Johann Conrad Dippel
In 1673, the alchemist Johann Conrad Dippel was born at the castle. He was very famous during his lifetime.
There have been claims of Dippel influencing Mary Shelley to write her Frankenstein novel, though there is no mention of the castle in Mary's journals from the time. It is known that in 1814, prior to writing the famous novel, Mary took a journey on the river Rhine. She spent a few hours in the town of Gernsheim, which is located about ten miles away from the castle. Though much of what has been said about Dippel to support this theory has turned out to be false, several nonfiction books on the life of Mary Shelley claim Dippel as a possible influence.
Read more about this topic: Castle Frankenstein
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