Conrad Dippel, Frankenstein and Dracula

In a curious case of life imitating art, I learned today of a connection between Frankenstein and Dracula. As we know Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelly, as it turns out, the characterization of Victor Frankenstein might have been based on a man named Conrad Dippel. Johann Conrad Dippel was born in Germany in Frankenstein’s Castle. He was involved with Alchemy, Science and was educated in Religion. He is infamous for some experiments he conducted with human bodies, at least so it been rumored. The interesting fact is that Frankenstein’s Castle was home to the Von Frankenstein family in Germany, as it turns out, one member of this family, migrated to Transylvania and was partly responsibly for the building of Bran Castle. Unfortunately, he ended up in a feud with the local prince at the time, namely, Prince Vlad Tepes (aka Vlad the Impaler aka Dracula), which lead to his death by impalement. So here we have real history, illustrating a connection with the name Frankenstein (and a member of that family) with Count Dracula. An amazing fact, knowing the connection in modern fiction between the fictitious characters in horror that are based on these two names and people; Frankenstein and Dracula.