Schloß Schneehertz

Written by Jacob Eugster Edited by Zach Batson

Schloß Schneehertz, a towering fortress located at the center of Himmelstadt, is the center of both high society and administration in Imperial colonial life. Greatly expanded from a modest hunting lodge known to be a favorite of then Kaiser Franz Josef, Schloß Schneehertz was renovated by its current lord and hereditary colonial administrator Maximilian Eugen von Habsburg on the occasion of his birth in 1895. The construction advanced incredibly quickly due to the introduction of various new techniques, such as suspending cranes from Balfour drive-powered ships. Members of the Imperial court joked that the fortress was growing up faster than the young prince Maximilian. At its completion in 1916, the fortress covered an area of over 2 million square meters, much of which honeycombs the interior of Silberhorn Berg on which it stands. The city of Himmelstadt grew around the fortress as it was being built, and the infrastructure used in its construction was later turned to the development of the city. In 1938, the city had a population numbering nearly 3 million. The city is arranged in a spoke and wheel pattern with Schneehertz at its center. The only building in the Himmelstadt skyline not entirely dominated by it is the Cathedral of Saint Leopold, located at the far end of the mountainous valley in which it sits.

Schneehertz was conceived as a grand showpiece of Habsburg wealth and power even in the distant colonies. Designed to function as the center of administrative control for the entire colony, many colonial institutions can be found located on its ground level. Here, Imperial citizens can find such organizations as the Himmelstadt Post Office, Rathaus, and Police Headquarters. Most Iocal citizens will go their entire lives without ascending past the fifth level, and climbing the mountain or “den Berg besteigen” is a local expression meaning to become lost in the bureaucracy.

Schneehertz’s middle floors contain housing quarters for the colonial garrison, hangars for troop transport craft, and some few apartments reserved for high ranking bureaucrats favored by Prince Maximilian. The upper middle floors also contain vaults in which the taxed wealth of the colony is stored before being dispatched for Earth. This area is well known to be guarded by the Crystal Dragon “Franzi”, who was named by the Prince when presented with him as a gift in 1907, when he was only age 12. The castle’s highest levels are located over 2000 meters from its base, where oxygen would be thin if it were not partially insulated by the city-sized shield generator at the center of the castle. These levels contain the personal residence of Prince Maximilian, as well as all the accommodations necessary to entertain high society, including a massive ballroom, world-class kitchens, a large Chapel dedicated to St. George, and a private art gallery displaying works by artists such as Alphonse Mucha and Gustav Klimt. The colonial elite congregate here in the lavish splendor of Italian marble floors and taxidermied dragon heads, and often host visiting notables from Earth, such as Kaiser Otto himself, who is known to visit every year to hunt local “game”.

Type

Castle