Near Innsbruk stands a monument to perversity. Castle Ambras occupied during the 16th century by Archduke Ferdinand harbours one of the most terrifying portrait galleries in the civilised world. Painted from life, these grotesqueries reflect the offbeat tastes of the collector. In this gallery of the bizarre are images of those maimed in battle or deformed by nature. One portrait seems curiously out of place: it’s that of a king who ruled not in Austria but in a land to the east now called Romania. His brutality earned him the nickname Vlad the Impaler; his real name was Vlad Dracula. In Search of s1e16 … Dracula, History 1977
Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula did have a human inspiration – a 15th century Romanian prince called Vlad the Impaler. In Search of History s5e4: The Real Dracula, History 2000
Vlad the Impaler was the real Dracula. ibid.