About Us

Castles of Brandenburg need help!


 

Our company "Gemeinnützige Betriebsgesellschaft" (BSG) redevelops valuable buildings and historical gardens with support of the foundation "Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz".


Castle Doberlug-Kirchhain Sudermannhaus in Blankensee 01 Sudermannhaus in Blankensee 02

More than 500 castles and manor house which are surrounded by gardens and extensive park areas are a very special feature of the cultural landscape of Brandenburg. Some of these castle areas have been kept even if they often are structurally unsound. As documents of German and European history and architecture they enjoin the living generation to keep them for the future generations.
The owners who are mostly municipalities, districts and the federal state Brandenburg because of the immense financial needs are often unable to raise the necessary resources for redevelopment and maintenance costs. Private potential buyers sometimes withdraw their intentions to buy because they are afraid of the conditions of protection of historical monuments. In December 1992 the foundation „Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz“ in Bonn and the state government of Brandenburg have decided to found a charitable company which has in Germany a model character. The example of "Brandenburgische Schlösser GmbH" (BSG) is the work of "National Trust" in Great Britain. It is the task of our company to take care of the redevelopment, maintenance and keeping of manor houses, castles and their park areas.

After more than 10 years of intensive business in the field of redevelopment of castles and manor houses which are listed for preservation our company is able to give a quite successful résumé. Altogether have been made works on safeguarding and redevelopment at 14 castles and manor houses. They are objects which are in their dimensions incomparable with the Prussian Royal Castles. Nevertheless they are of a great architectural and artistic quality and undoubtedly belong to the significant cultural heritage of Brandenburg.
A big part of the castles is owned by BSG.
These castles are:

Of course even the financial basis of BSG is of great importance. For the basic redevelopment are to be calculated financial means from 5 to 15 Mio. € according to the structural sound and the size of the object. However the redevelopment of the castles is only one part of our work.
The search for a user who guarantees the use of the redeveloped object in the sense of protection of historical monuments is the other part of our work.

Because of the fact that the redevelopment costs are not demanded back our company is able to rent the objects at a price of 5,50,- € per m²/month. By this reasonable rent an economic use is made possible and the maintenance of the castles can be guaranteed. A further positive aspect of the work of BSG is the business promotion. The redevelopment of existing buildings causes a higher number of jobs than at new buildings because during the restoration works more manual labour is needed.
Perfect examples for the work of BSG are the castles in Blankensee and Reichenow. At the aristocratic seat of Blankensee from the 18th century which was used right at the end as kindergarden, training centre and mayor’s office at the beginning of that century has lived the respected writer Hermann Sudermann. He “completed” the baroque country castle with an "Italian Garden" which is decorated with many marble figures. That castle is used now by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences as a place for conferences.
Castle Reichenow has been completed in autumn 1997. The house is in the mean time a very popular place for couples who can celebrate here their wedding. The castle even has an own registry.
Following castles and historical buildings have been already completed and got a new use:

Furthermore BSG at the moment redevelops the castles in Altdöbern, Fürstlich Drehna, Großkmehlen, Groß Rietz and Lieberose. At all castles exist or rather existed urgent demands for safeguarding and repairs of the building stock whether at the roof and roof finishing, wood preservation measures, stabilization of ceilings and walls, in the redevelopment of outer walls, barriers against moisture penetration or the repairs of the garden areas.


 
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