Tour Report: Knight's Manor "Blue Sky"

In August 2019, we visited an object that we had long had on our list, but never had the opportunity to visit until this point. It is an old manor whose history goes back a long way. The villa, to which the title "manor" has passed, was built in the late 19th century.

Initially used as an industrialist's villa, over time the building underwent many new uses - as a planned mothers' recreation home, as a Reich Labor Service camp, as a Red Army military hospital, as a school for judges, as a school for the FDJ travel agency, and as a pioneer leadership school.

After a fire devastated the attic in the summer of 2018 and the firefighting efforts caused further damage, we knew that the days of this beautiful building were numbered and included it in our plan for the next summer vacation.

It was a warm day and the journey was uneventful. However, finding a decent parking spot not too far from the property was significantly more difficult. We ended up parking somewhat awkwardly on the edge of an allotment. There were already a few other cars parked there, so we could hope not to attract further attention.

From there we walked along the road until we reached the wooded area that was once part of the magnificent park that surrounded the manor. Through this now very dense forest we crept up to the building from the back. We could hear that the farmed part of the estate was busy, so we kept extremely quiet as we searched for an entrance into the building. Fortunately, there was an open door that was out of sight and hidden by trees.

When we entered the building, we were on the one hand impressed by the princely looking rooms, but on the other hand a little disappointed, because due to the fire many rooms did not look like we had seen in older photos.

The main subject, however - the staircase - was still in quite good condition despite the fire and the extinguishing work. For this, the trip had been more than worth it! Even the ceiling painting, a blue sky with a stylized sun in the center, was still there apart from some damage.

In other rooms, the extinguishing water had caused quite nice decay, so that we could make our way to the next locaton with a good yield of pictures in our luggage.

To find out about the history of this place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.