Interesting that it's Cyrillic. That does make Bulgaria a leading contender, IMO, since we already have a significant Bulgarian presence in canon with Viktor Krum. I think that a staff member like Karkaroff could be from anywhere, but the students, it just seems more likely they wouldn't travel as far.
Weirdly, I don't see Severus having been nor being all that interested in going. Maybe for a couple years around 6th-7th year, or immediately post-school. But I don't really see much opportunity/reason. He's very tied to Hogwarts as well as being a Slytherin.
I'm starting to really like Latvia for the location because it has both mountains and access to the Baltic Sea. (Honestly, I don't think JKR put a lot of thought into where it was -She just labelled it as Unplottable and moved on. But she didn't consider the intense need fanficcer's and discerning readers have for correct details! How dare she? She didn't even double check her days with a calendar... She'd never make it through a good beta :D)
I can imagine Severus wanting to have the privilege to visit, being considered that important within the Potions community. And I can also imagine him wanting to reassure himself that he knew everything Durmstrang was teaching about the Dark Arts, but I agree he's tied to Hogwarts and Slytherin.
I read through the old discussion and really liked the Karelia idea. It does have mountains and sea access (they traveled by ship), it's located further north, so the day will be short in the winter and it's definitely cold. The closeness to Scandinavian countries (and once it was a part of Finland and Sweden too) explains the German-looking name and Russian location explains the Cyrillic part of the motto as well as the Russian influence to the other East European countries explains Slavic teachers and students (hence Krum form Bulgaria).
Hm, I actually have not thought about this in great detail before, but I guess I always just assumed Russia. I guess close to the border of Latvia or Finland and the Baltic Sea makes sense if they did travel to Scotland by sea, but seeing as the ship appeared from under the water of the lake by Hogwarts I think it is just as likely they used magic and travelled by some magical means through lake to take.
Some people in the linked thread (and the one within it) mention the Nordic countries, but I do not think that is a good fit. At least my feel of Durmstrang and the people we meet who teach/attend the school leads me to want to go quite a bit further east. But I guess this can be the films obscuring my view, as I feel they present the culture more Slavic than Sami, Finnish or Norse. I do not remember if this is true for the books as well. Of course the Wizarding culture does not need to be similar to the Muggle cultures, but I do not see why this would be different outside Britain.
As a Russian by birth, I find the idea that Durmstrang would be located anywhere in Russia (or Belarus for that matter), weird in the extreme. Having said that, I find it believable that JKR might place it somewhere around there, not necessarily because it was a well thought-out literary decision, but more an expression of subconscious associations that an average person in the West, affected by WWII and subsequent Cold War might have. Durmstrang is meant to convey the feel of something vaguely sinister, threatening and hostile, what with its students marching in military formation, Karkaroff's iron fist rule and Death Eater (read 'Nazi') links, teaching of the dark arts, and you get the picture. It's actually funny and incongruous that the school has a German name (wordplay on Sturm und Drang no less) and every student there has a faux-Slavic name... Considering the history of dealings between the Germanic and Slavic worlds, this is laughable and maybe a wee bit offensive. JKR's own placing of Durmstrang in Scandinavia feels slightly
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Weirdly, I don't see Severus having been nor being all that interested in going. Maybe for a couple years around 6th-7th year, or immediately post-school. But I don't really see much opportunity/reason. He's very tied to Hogwarts as well as being a Slytherin.
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I can imagine Severus wanting to have the privilege to visit, being considered that important within the Potions community. And I can also imagine him wanting to reassure himself that he knew everything Durmstrang was teaching about the Dark Arts, but I agree he's tied to Hogwarts and Slytherin.
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Some people in the linked thread (and the one within it) mention the Nordic countries, but I do not think that is a good fit. At least my feel of Durmstrang and the people we meet who teach/attend the school leads me to want to go quite a bit further east. But I guess this can be the films obscuring my view, as I feel they present the culture more Slavic than Sami, Finnish or Norse. I do not remember if this is true for the books as well. Of course the Wizarding culture does not need to be similar to the Muggle cultures, but I do not see why this would be different outside Britain.
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