Tour Report: Mansion "Hunter's Dream"

The second and final stop on our tour at the end of March 2021 was an abandoned manor house. We had discovered it more or less by chance the evening before, while looking for abandoned places in the surrounding area. The manor, which is now in a very dilapidated condition, consists of three sections. The main building dates back to the late 17th century and was built on even older walls. The extensions were added in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries.

Architecturally, the building therefore represents the development of Mecklenburg manor houses over several centuries, which makes it quite special in itself.

It took us about an hour to drive there from the brickworks we had visited earlier, but the journey also brought us considerably closer to our accommodation, so we were already heading in the right direction.

The manor is located on the edge of a very small village between two lakes. There were no inconspicuous parking spots nearby, so we had no choice but to park directly opposite the manor. We simply hoped that nobody would pass by, or that anyone who did would assume we were heading for a walk in the nearby park.

The manor was not fenced off, and we were able to enter the grounds without any problems. It looked as though the vegetation around the building had been cleared relatively recently. The grounds were neatly cleared, and there were tire tracks from agricultural machinery. Of course, the lack of dense vegetation meant that we could not approach under cover and had to move quickly, hoping to remain unnoticed. On the other hand, it also made finding an entrance surprisingly easy: an open basement vault provided access to the ground floor.

We reached the grand entrance hall via a staircase and two rather dilapidated small rooms. The hall was divided into two areas: the large entrance section, with a wide staircase leading to the first floor, and the “Great Hall”, featuring an ornate ceiling, heavy wooden doors and a locked entrance leading towards the garden and park.

On the first floor, directly above the hall, was another large room with a dark wooden coffered ceiling. Several corridors branched off from this room, leading to numerous smaller rooms.

It was impossible to miss that the building had undergone many additions and alterations over the centuries. This was particularly evident in some rather unfortunate modifications made during the GDR era, when the manor was used as a refugee home, village shop, nursery and residential building. Walls had been added, others removed, and in some areas it was difficult to tell which part of the manor we were actually standing in.

There were almost no remnants in the form of furniture, documents or similar items. Nevertheless, there were still some interesting details to discover, including an intricately designed curved iron staircase, heavy wooden doors, stained-glass windows and empty bottles of various herbal liqueurs - although those clearly dated from the period after German reunification.

Simply because of its size, we spent a long time exploring the old building, making sure we had seen all of its rooms. Looking back, the most interesting aspect was undoubtedly being able to recognize the different periods in which various parts of the manor had been built or modified.

Since we had never heard of the manor before our visit and had not seen any photographs of it, we had no great expectations for the exploration. But I think it was definitely worth it!

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

Tour Report: Estate House "Field of Reeds"

I stumbled upon this old manor house from the late 18th century quite by accident during some research, and it immediately struck me as a perfect destination for our traditional post-Christmas outing with my mother and mother-in-law - not too far away, easy parking, and (hopefully) a straightforward way in.

Earlier that day, we had already visited a former school camp and an abandoned inn. Both explorations were successful in their own way, but from a photographic standpoint, neither location had much left to offer. So our hopes were now firmly set on the old manor.

From the nearby mill, it was just over a 30-minute drive. As we approached the village, we could already spot the tall wrought-iron fence and the overgrown park behind it. Then the manor itself came into view - imposing and elegant - and instantly sparked our curiosity.

As expected, parking was no issue. We could have stopped directly across from the property, but chose a slightly more discreet spot a bit further away and continued on foot.

Getting onto the grounds turned out to be no challenge at all, as there were several large gaps in the fence. Finding a way into the building was just as easy - there was an entrance at the back.

Once inside, I immediately regretted leaving my camera in the car and having to rely on my phone.

Parts of the manor were still in surprisingly good condition, with decorative elements from various periods clearly visible - remnants of the many renovations and alterations carried out by different owners over the centuries. Other rooms, however, had been almost completely stripped. The last owner had intended to restore the house to its original style, removing everything that didn’t fit the historical aesthetic - woodchip wallpaper and 1950s bathroom tiles among them.

Fortunately, aside from a bit of graffiti, there was relatively little vandalism, allowing us to truly appreciate much of the building’s historic character.

After about an hour, we had explored everything, and with the light already starting to fade, we began making our way back home.

I was a little disappointed that I had only taken photos with my phone—but we quickly agreed that we would return, properly equipped next time. So stay tuned for what we discovered just three weeks later!

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

Tour Report: Chateau "Ornament"

Exploring this place was one of those moments that stay with you for a long time.

During our summer vacation in 2020, my wife and I visited the abandoned mansion of a former knight’s estate. Some time before, I had stumbled upon a few photos of its exterior and learned that it had most likely been vacant since the fall of the Berlin Wall. From the outside alone, it already radiated a strange kind of quiet dignity.

We hadn’t seen a single photo of the interior, so we had no idea what awaited us inside. Before heading there, we studied the area on Google Maps, trying to plan our approach as carefully as possible.

At the front, the property bordered a small neighborhood with still-inhabited houses. People lived there. Curtains moved behind windows. Approaching from that side was clearly not an option.

At the back, the grounds extended into a wooded area - but the way from there would have been long and inconvenient, and we weren’t even sure if we’d find a place to leave the car.

That left only one realistic option: a farm located on the neighboring land. It wasn’t ideal, and there was always the risk of being noticed. But since it was a Tuesday, we hoped that luck - and a quiet workday - might be on our side.

And it was.

We found a small parking spot on a side road near the farm. Everything was quiet. No one seemed to be around. With a slight mix of excitement and nervousness, we made our way onto the property.

Finding an entrance took a few minutes. The summer heat was intense, the air heavy and still. Every step through the dry leaves sounded painfully loud, as if the whole world could hear us. For a moment, we froze - but no one came. No dogs barked. No doors opened.

Finally, we slipped inside.

What we found there completely took our breath away.

Although the mansion was completely empty, it had somehow remained untouched by vandalism or graffiti. Sunlight filtered through dusty windows, revealing high arched ceilings, massive wooden doors, detailed stucco work, and incredibly ornate wood carvings.

The woodwork, in particular, fascinated us. From the finely carved wall panels to the decorated columns and stair railings, everything told a story of craftsmanship that simply doesn’t exist like that anymore.

My personal highlight was a huge wooden door, roughly 3 by 2 meters in size, covered in intricate carvings. Standing in front of it felt almost unreal - like facing a relic from another era.

We spent nearly two hours wandering through the building, quietly moving from room to room, trying to absorb every detail before leaving the same way we had entered.

Fortunately, from the photos I’ve seen in recent years, the place seems to have remained mostly unchanged. And who knows - maybe one day we’ll return, just to feel that atmosphere again.

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

Tour Report: Hunting Chateau "Top of the Hill"

On the way back from our tour in May 2020, we took a short trip to a low mountain range before heading to a dear friend's house to end our vacation there. An abandoned hunting lodge, which was built at the end of the 17th century and has had a very varied history over the centuries, stands on a ridge in said mountain range. This hunting lodge was the destination of our short excursion that day.

After taking a road with (I think) 36 hairpin bends to get up the mountain, we reached the small side road to the old castle. As we were coming from the north, we didn't drive past the buildings in use opposite and remained unseen.

To avoid being seen from the main road, we parked directly behind the castle.

An entrance was quickly found - as was the realization that many parts of the building were in serious danger of collapse, while other parts already had collapsed.

The condition didn't make it easy for us to move through the building, because the collapsed areas meant that we always had to take detours, for example because a piece of the floor was missing in corridors and we had to find our way across another floor.

That's also why we were denied a view of the highlight of this location during this visit - the musicians' gallery in the church pavilion. We just didn't find the right way through the building.

We postponed this pleasure until our next visit, as we had an appointment for dinner and had to leave after a while.

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

Tour Report: Knight's Manor "The Blue Estate"

We're still looking back at our vacation in November of 2018. After a day of touring together with my mother-in-law, we spent the night at her place, before starting the next stage of our trip. On the way from the city of Kassel to our next destination in the Harz Mountains, we stopped to check out an abandoned castle in a small town situated in a valley between two low mountain ranges.

We wanted to check if there was any possibility to explore the beautiful old castle located on the northern edge of the village. As we drove up and saw the castle, our hearts started beating faster - what a beautiful building this was! At the same time, feelings of disappointment started creeping in, because we could already see that there was no way to get on the premises. A high wall and a large gate kept us from entering, and we did not want to sneak across various neighbor's lawns to check if there was a possibility to enter from the other side.

So we were almost ready to get back into the car and drive on to the next stop, when we saw an older man exit one of the outbuildings and walk across the courtyard. We called out to him, and it turned out that he was a kind of caretaker for the place. He lived in the outbuilding and was looking out for the castle because a new owner had bought the building and was planning to begin renovation soon.

We asked him if there was a possibility to get into the castle to take a few photos - and to our surprise, he said yes! Then he opened the gate, so we could park right in the courtyard. After we had gotten our gear out of the car, he unlocked the castle door and took us on a tour through the castle.

This guy was really nice. He was with us the entire time, told us about the history of the castle, told stories from the past and explained what was planned for the future. All in all, we were in there for about two and a half hours, and the caretaker managed to fill the entire time with a wealth of information while we took our photos. He seemed to really like us and the fact that we had a genuine interest in the place and its history. We could have stayed even longer, but we had a dinner engagement by the campfire for the evening - and one more spot to explore on the way...

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

Tour Report: The Movie Castle

This abandoned castle has been used as a backdrop for a series of children's movies in Germany, and since you can legally visit it, it is in great condition and pretty well-known in the urbex "community". And so it had been on our list of places to visit for more than a few years, when in August of 2018, we got the opportunity when the castle was right on the way between two places where we were staying during our summer vacation. So we called up the caretaker a few days before and set a date and time for us to come by.

It was one of the hottest days of the year. As we drove south from the Harz mountains, the temperature constantly climbed until it reached a solid 41,5°C (177°F). Thank God for air conditioned cars! When we parked the car under some trees near the castle and opened the doors, we were hit in the face by a wall of heat. It was so hot that we didn't really want to get out of the car - but after all, there was the castle waiting for us...so we grabbed our gear and walked towards the arched door leading into the courtyard.

We were greeted by the caretaker and his wife. The wife was really friendly and made a bit of smalltalk as we paid the "visitor's fee", while the caretaker himself was a really grumpy guy. He walked from his chair to a riding mower, signaled us to follow him and then drove about maybe forty meters to a side door of the castle. He almost crashed the thing into the door and without even getting up, he put the key in the keyhole and unlocked the door. Then he backed up the mower and drove back forty meters to his chair.

We had hoped that because of the thick walls it would be at least a bit cooler inside the castle - but we were so wrong. It had been really hot in the region for weeks, and so the castle did have a lot of time to really heat up, so it was less than enjoyable. But the castle sure made up for the unpleasant temperature. Rarely have we seen such beauty and craftsmanship, and although some parts of the castle have been changed a little for the movies, you an still imagine what the place must have looked like in its day.

We first walked through the entire castle without camera, just to see everything and make a bit of a plan where to start. After that, we spent about three hours walking through the place and photographing every room.

As we were finished, we took our mandatory selfie - with to this day is one of my favorite selfies - packed our stuff, locked the door and gave back the key. It was still hot as hell outside, but the prospect of getting back into the air-conditioned car and driving to the next destination - where there would be cold drinks - gave us the boost we needed :)

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