Saxony's only fully preserved manor house, the baroque Rammenau Castle, is located at the foot of the Lusazian Mountains near Bautzen. While it looks like a modern fairy-tale castle on the outside, inside are the Chinese Hall, Pompeii Hall, Bird Room, Peacock Room, and Hunting Room, with impressive room design in late Baroque and early Classicist styles. The baroque Rammenau Castle was purchased by the von Hoffmann family in the 18th century, and the idyllic landscaped grounds were designed by their son, Johann Centurius Count von Hoffmann. Today, guests can listen to classical music in the Hall of Mirrors and try the culinary delights of the landed gentry era in the dining room.
Barockschloss Rammenau History
The Baroque Rammenau Castle derives its special charm from the harmonious combination of Baroque architecture and Classicist decoration in their interplay with the idyllic landscape. Elegant drawing rooms, precious porcelain and enchanting frescoes await you during your visit to what was once a summer residence.
Ernst Ferdinand von Knoch - chamberlain to Augustus the Strong - bought the manor of Rammenau in 1717 from the bankrupt von Seydewitz family. Four years later, he began construction of the new Baroque castle building. It is said to have been designed by Johann Christoph Knoeffel. In 1744, Knoch fled Rammenau because he had accumulated large debts. The castle, still unfinished, became the property of the von Hoffmann family. The latter completed the building and, after their rise to nobility in 1778, called themselves "von Hoffmannsegg."
In 1788, Johann Centurius von Hoffmannsegg bought Rammenau Manor and sold it in 1794 for 100,000 thalers to his brother-in-law Friedrich von Kleist, captain of the Prussian cavalry. He had several rooms converted to the Classicist style and had the symmetrical garden redesigned in the English style. In 1820, Johann Centurius Graf von Hoffmannsegg repurchased the castle. 59 years later, Hans Curt Christoph Ernst von Posern purchased it from the von Hoffmannsegg family.
During World War I, the baroque castle was used as a military hospital. At the time it belonged to Margarete Gisela Gabriele Alexandra von Helldorff, née von Posern. After the castle was taken by the Red Army in 1945, von Helldorf was expropriated in the course of land reform in the Soviet occupation zone. From 1951, the rooms were used for school purposes, as a summer studio for the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and, until 1962, as a country study site.
It was not until 1967 that the Historical Museum was opened, and the existing exhibition on Johann Gottlieb Fichte was expanded to include a section on the history of the castle. In the summer of 1968 the castle restaurant was opened and public concerts began to be held in the Hall of Mirrors. In the early 1990s, the entire Rammenau complex became the property of the Free State of Saxony and received state castle status.