Beesenstedt Castle is a magical place that feels like a huge adventure playground.
It was run down during East German communist times and is now peu-à-peu being renovated.
It transmits an atmosphere of possibility and creativity much like the city of Berlin did in the years
after the wall came down.
It is often visited by artists escaping from the turbulent city life in order to advance their projects
in this remote and inspiring location.
The Castle was built in 1895 in the village of Beesenstedt in Saxony-Anhalt,
Germany. Until 1947 it served as the residence of the Nette family whose
ancestry reaches back to the German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock.
The interior of the Castle was designed by Paul Schultze-Naumburg who was also responsible for the design of the Cecilienhof
Palace in Potsdam (which hosted the Potsdam Conference in 1945). In 1921 it
was looted by Max Hoelz in the course of the “Märzkämpfe” (a communist
initiated workers revolution). Its use as a masonic lodge house lead to the
various meeting rooms throughout the castle.
During the Second World War the castle
served as the seat of the Government Bureau of Saxony. After the war, the
trade union federation (FDGB) of East Germany used it as a holiday camp.
After the fall of the wall, the castle was uninhabited until 1996. Today it
is privately owned and used as a location for film-shoots and other events.
In 2008 the band Rammstein spent a few weeks in Beesenstedt Castle to prepare
for their album “Liebe ist für alle da”.
From Beesenstedt you can take a beautiful 3km walk down a little valley towards the village of Kloschwitz.
Link to: Beesenstedt Castle Website
Click on the thumbnails for larger images of Beesenstedt Castle
and more...
