A Skull, a Dentist & a Really Good Story

...they would have much to tell. Our Schlosshotels have been witness to love stories, negotiations, festivities, even disputes. Decisions were set in motion here, celebrations reached their climax, and farewells found the quiet space they deserved. What remains are stories. Legends. Traces of moments that reach far beyond their own time.

Burg Bernstein in Burgenland has stood for over 800 years and is home to countless stories such as these. They hide behind the ancient walls, drift along creaking staircases, and reveal themselves in small, seemingly insignificant details. “Every corner tells a story,” says Erasmus Almásy, host of Burg Bernstein.

Some have become known far beyond the castle itself – like the story of László Almásy, which later became world-famous as the inspiration for "The English Patient." Others remain much closer to home: "The Sundial," "Count Dracula," or “The Counterfeiter,” whose little prank even made it onto ORF television. Stories that still feel alive today. Stories that make people laugh, marvel, and sometimes pause to reflect. Because hosts like Erasmus Almásy preserve them and continue to pass them on – giving their guests the chance to become part of them, if only for a moment.

“This story begins with an ancestor of the Almásy family who, as the story goes, came across a human skull while walking through a former battlefield. He took it home and placed it on his desk, where it remained. When that ancestor passed away, his chambers were converted into a guest suite known as the ‘Pasha Suite.’ The skull, however, stayed exactly where it was.

Many years later, after a few glasses of wine and clearly in search of a little courage, one of our regular guests approached us with a confession to make. ‘You know I always stay in the Pasha Suite,’ he began somewhat sheepishly. ‘And naturally, as a dentist, I immediately noticed the condition of this skull’s teeth. Every year when I come back, the poor fellow is missing a few more.’

That gave us pause. Since no animal would have any interest in teeth, it could only mean one thing: some guests had apparently taken home a rather unusual souvenir – namely a tooth from the poor skull. But that was not the end of the story.

‘I felt sorry for the poor fellow,’ our regular guest continued, ‘so every time I returned, I brought along the finest and most magnificent specimens from my dental practice to refill his mouth.’ With every sentence, the story became more absurd. We asked him how long this had been going on. ‘About twenty years,’ came the jaw-dropping reply.

We hardly knew what surprised us more – the disappearing teeth or their equally unusual restoration. One thing was certain, however: for two decades, a story had been quietly unfolding within our own house without us ever having the faintest inkling about it.

We bore our regular guest no grudge and promptly invited him to share another bottle of wine so we could properly toast his ‘confession.’ Secretly, we were even rather delighted by the thought that all those cheeky enough to steal a tooth from the poor skull probably do not, in fact, have a tooth from an unknown knight sitting on a shelf in their home today – but rather the wisdom tooth of one of the dentist’s former patients.”

Perhaps it is precisely this blend of gravity and playful humor that gives stories like these their lasting power. Passed down through generations, reshaped, sometimes embellished ever so slightly – and thence never told quite the same way twice. It is the hosts who continue to recount them and keep them alive. And who make sure that an old skull, a dentist, and a bottle of wine evolve into a really good yarn.