Tour Report: Knight's Manor "Friendly Neighbor"

I had come across this former knight's manor in deepest Saxony while planning the summer tour 2017 together with my wife. We didn't have high hopes to gain access.
Located on a street corner in the middle of a residential area, partly surrounded with a stone wall - it didn't look like there was any chance of entering this place. But since it was on the way, of course we drove by to check it out
It looked just as we had expected - no chance to get inside.

At the end of the street, some neighbors were gathered around a workbench and apparently discussed ongoing construction on one of their homes. Asking won't hurt, I thought, and I went over to the people, introduced myself politely and asked if they knew if it was possible to enter the old manor house to take some photos.
To my great surprise, the answer was, "That might be possible, ask the lady across the street." Said and done - I went to the house right across the street, rang, and a lady of about 65 years opened the doot. Again, I introduced myself and asked for access to the manor.
Her answer: "Oh sure! Wait  a moment while I get the key from my husband."
Wow.
Just like that! Were we in, and she left us alone. After about 5 minutes, she came back, because she had probably become a little unsure with two strangers in the house, and she asked us a little further what we actually planned to do with the pictures etc.
During the conversation that followed, it turned out that about 5 years before our visit, she and her husband had received the key from the then 80-year-old owner from somwhere farther away with the request to watch over the house. Since then, the owner hadn't been heard from or seen again, and no one knows what happened to him.

Anyway, the lady herself had also been a resident of one of the apartments that had been built into the manor during the time of the German separation and, she was able to tell us a lot about it.

And the moral of the story: Once again, it tunred out that an open and friendly demeanour sometimes does lead to the goal - and that in fact friendly neighbors do exist!


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

Medieval Castle A.

This castle is probably the oldest lost place I have ever visited.
Well, it's actually not really "lost", because there are people working on preserving it or at least keep it from falling apart.
But it's no tourist attrcation (anymore) and it is truly a beautiful place.

The castle was first documented in 1156. This was the time that a first medieval fortification was built into a Romanesque castle.
It is situated on a hill 210 meters high and surrounded by four villages. The original lords of this castle belonged to an old saxonian family of nobles. Over the centuries however, a lot of different families came to be the owners.
Around 1400, new parts were added to the castle.

After parts of the castle were destroyed in the Peasants' War in 1525, it was rebuilt in 1530.
In 1563, the castle was more and more furnished for living. The hall building got two additional floors, and the castle chapel as well as the kitchen house were completely rebuilt.

From the 17th century on, the aristocratic families frequently complained to the Elector of Saxony about the condition of the castle.
Tenants that worked on the castle grounds took care of the most necessary repairs, but they couldn't stop the decay of the buildings.

In 1780, the last descendants of the original lineage died, the dominion fell to Electoral Saxony and in 1815, to the Kingdom of Prussia.
In the middle of the 19th century, the historic relevance of the castle led to more attention for its preservation, and the touristic exploitation was initiated. Further repairs followed until the 1930s.

Since 1992, a local initiative takes care of the remains of what is widely known as the "Romantic Ruin".