Jagdschloss Reinhardsbrunn
THE ABANDONED CASTLE IN GERMANY
In 1610 ‘Jagdschloss Reinhardsbrunn’ was built on the grounds of an old abby. This ancient castle was the first wing of this beautiful building. In 1835 the old castle gets a huge upgrade and 15 years later a church was added to the site.
The ancient Abbey was a house of the Benedictine Order founded in 1085. The monastery became less important after the extinction of the Ludovingians in 1247. Nevertheless, the House of Wettin still used it as a dynastic burial site. The monastery was looted during the German Peasants’ War in 1525, after that the former monastery buildings fell into ruin. In 1572, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm had parts of the monastery rebuilt as a local administrative seat.
The main castle building, restored in about 1706 was rebuilt as a hunting retreat in 1827. The father-in-law to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom inherited the site, and built his summer residence here in an English style, surrounded by the first Romantic park.
After the Second World War, the house and estate were used for a short time by Soviet Red Army forces as a military hospital. Later it was used for various functions by the government of East Germany, who opened the castle as a showpiece hotel in 1961. In 1991 the castle was abandoned. The castle had several owners, but was never used again. Today a Russian investment consortium is the owner. But they did not did not maintain the castle. My photos of ‘Jagdschloss Reinhardsbrunn’ were taken in 2009.
