RISMEDIA, July 3, 2007—Archduke Dominic Habsburg and his family have retained a private investment firm, Baytree Capital, to create a long-term strategic plan for the enhancement and preservation of historic Bran Castle in the Transylvanian region of Romania.
Under the terms of the agreement, Baytree will have exclusive rights to represent the Habsburgs with regard to Bran Castle and associated properties. Bran Castle has tremendous historical significance to Transylvania and Romania, both real and mythical, and is known throughout the world as Dracula’s Castle. This association can be traced back to Irish author Bram Stoker, who used Bran Castle as his inspiration for the settings of his classic 1897 novel, Dracula.
With Romania’s recent accession to the European Union, investors from all over the world are seeking to exploit the tremendous economic upswing now underway in the country.
Michael Gardner, Chairman of Baytree Capital, said, “I am privileged and honored that the Habsburg family have entrusted me with the future of this precious asset. Bran Castle is one of Romania’s top tourist attractions, and with the expected boom in tourism generated by the mythological draw of Transylvania, the Habsburg family believes that a strategic plan for the development of Bran castle is needed.”
Archduke Dominic said, “I chose Michael Gardner to create a plan for Bran Castle because I felt he would do it with the utmost sensitivity towards my family, the castle’s history, and our ties to the country. Aside from the castle’s connection to one of the most famous novels ever written, Bran Castle is steeped in critical events of European history dating from the 14th Century to the present.”
Queen Marie, the Archduke’s grandmother, and her family lived in the castle in the early part of the 20th Century. The seven hundred year-old castle was seized from the family by the communist regime in 1948, and was converted into a museum in the late 1950s.
The Bran Castle was rightfully returned to the Habsburg family by the Romanian government in 2006.
For more information on Baytree Capital, please visit http://www.baytreecapital.com.
