The refurbished former residence of royalty is now a tourist attraction in its own right, but so too are the shows arranged by Kurt Neuschitzer.
Kurt Neuschitzer never wanted to own a castle. A lawyer, banker, broker and property developer from Germany, he acquired Cantacuzino Castle in Busteni – a mountain resort town in Romania’s Transylvania region – for an undisclosed sum in 2008 because it came with 1000 hectares of mountain slopes.
Surrounded by manicured gardens with a magnificent courtyard, stone-paved alleys and water fountains, Cantacuzino Castle was nationalised by Romania’s communist government in 1948 and converted into a military hospital. In 2004, it was returned to Ivana Cantacuzino, the prince’s great-granddaughter, who later sold it to Zamora Estate, Neuschitzer’s Romanian-listed property firm.“You should have seen how it was when we bought it.
The most resplendent part of the castle, the ballroom is crowned by a 1.5-tonne chandelier that is a replica of the one three times that size inside the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul.
Next, the tour ascends a wooden domino-style staircase into a room hosting da Vinci machines dedicated to civil engineering, beginning with a wooden bicycle that is not too different from modern two-wheelers. “This machine is incredible because its propulsion system is the same used for bicycles today – two independent wheels connected with a chain and pedals,” Enache explains. “But you’ll notice both wheels are connected by a single plank of wood, which means it cannot be steered.
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