Bram Stoker’s fictional character, “Dracula,” is based on Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad Dracul or Vlad the Impaler. [ CITATION Cou13 l 1033 ] Vlad Tepes, prince of Wallachia in the fifteenth century, was known across the land as a blood thirsty tyrant, who was seeking revenge for his father and brothers deaths. [ CITATION Dra06 l 1033 ] According to Bram Stoker, Dracula is a “Transylvanian Count with a castle located high above a valley perched on a rock with a flowing river below in the Principality of Transylvania.” [ CITATION Cou13 l 1033 ]This is where the confusion sets in because Bran Castle, located in Transylvania, is the only castle in all of Romania that fits Bram Stoker’s description of the Counts castle, making it known around the world as “Dracula’s Castle.”[ CITATION Cou13 l 1033 ] Although Transylvania and Bran Castle is known as the imaginary home of Dracula; that is only a small portion of what Bran Castle actually has to offer. When coming to visit Bran Castle, its visitors should make sure to learn and understand the historic reality of Bran Castle because of its rich history that dates back to about the year 1200. My recent interest in this topic became evident to me because of our recent trip to Bran Castle this past week on our way to Bucharest. In the year 1211, the original Bran Fortress was established by the Teutonic Knights, a catholic religious group formed by German Crusaders out of Palestine. The reason they were able to establish this fortress was because King Andrew II of Hungary gave the Teutons the land, which at the time was known as “Burzenland,” to establish a fortress and defend the Southeastern border from people known as the Cumans and the Peachangs. There in present day Bran, which means “Gate,” the Teutons built the fortress only to be driven away from the area about 15 years later. [ CITATION His13 l 1033 ]Whether it was destroyed or just fell to ruins from natural disaster or lack of upkeep I am not sure, but, about 150 years later another castle was granted to be built. King Louis the Great had a document issued which allowed the inhabitants of Brasov to build a castle and it was finished in 1388. The castle had been built on a steep cliff on the Eastern border of Transylvania, separating the cities of Magura and Dealul Cetatii, with a great view of hills and valleys around it. The castle took on the role of a fortress mainly to stop the Ottoman Empire from expanding therefore it was inhabited by soldiers and mercenaries. The castle also took on the role of customs, controlling 3 percent of the total goods coming and going from Transylvania.[ CITATION His13 l 1033 ] In the year 1407, it would seem after some change of power, the property and control of the castle was given away as a “fief” by Sigismund of Luxembourg to Prince Mircea Elder of Wallachia, his ally. The basis of this transaction was that Prince Mircea could escape to the castle in case of an attack by Turks, in return for his loyalty to Sigismund of Luxembourg. Years later, the prince died, returning control to Sigismund, who entrusted its rights to the Princes of Transylvania. [ CITATION His13 l 1033 ] At the end of the century the Brasov Saxons purchased the right to lease the castle for 10 years from King Vladislav II Jagello, for 100