Visited with lilli.
In 1827 Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, built a castle / country house and an “English Style†pleasure garden.
The royal family kept possession until World War II, when the manor was leased to the Reich Chancellery. The U.S. Army took over the building without a fight in 1945. The house and estate were used for a short time by Soviet Russian forces as a military as a military hospital. Later the castle served as a fire and police department under the power of the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany)
In 1961 the government of the DDR opened the castle as a “showpiece hotel†business leaders of the Eastern Bloc met here as well as scientists and historians from around the world. After the Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunified the hotel was run privately until 2001 when it closed. It was sold to a UK estate agent in 2005 for €1! It has since been linked with a money laundering scandal that reaches as far as Moscow.
Now perhaps we didn't look hard enough, but we've only ever seen external pictures of this site but it was that pretty we made a rather huge detour ..... imagaine our surprise when .........
Thanks for looking.
In 1827 Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, built a castle / country house and an “English Style†pleasure garden.
The royal family kept possession until World War II, when the manor was leased to the Reich Chancellery. The U.S. Army took over the building without a fight in 1945. The house and estate were used for a short time by Soviet Russian forces as a military as a military hospital. Later the castle served as a fire and police department under the power of the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany)
In 1961 the government of the DDR opened the castle as a “showpiece hotel†business leaders of the Eastern Bloc met here as well as scientists and historians from around the world. After the Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunified the hotel was run privately until 2001 when it closed. It was sold to a UK estate agent in 2005 for €1! It has since been linked with a money laundering scandal that reaches as far as Moscow.
Now perhaps we didn't look hard enough, but we've only ever seen external pictures of this site but it was that pretty we made a rather huge detour ..... imagaine our surprise when .........
Thanks for looking.
