User:DahlenSaxonia/Börln Castle

Schloss Börln (Börln Castle), built as a hunting lodge castle in 1617-20 for Johann Georg I, the Elector of Saxony (1585-1656), is a fine example of a late baroque building. It stands on the original site of a fort which for more than a thousand years has been surrounded by a moat. Parts of the moat, which is protected by the Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte (State Museum for Ancient History) are still filled with water and the remainder, though laid dry, is well preserved.

From 1620 to 1800, Schloss Börln was a moated castle. Thereafter, piece by piece, the land inside the moat was laid dry, as can be seen from old maps.

Schloss Börln was owned by various aristocrats who lived on the income from the manorial estate having huge tracts of farming and forestry land. In 1945 the invading Soviet army transported Julius Graf (Count) von Zech-Burkersroda to the prison in Bautzen where he apparently succumbed to a lung infection in appalling conditions. This ended a 107-year relationship of the family with the estate in Börln which was bought by their ancestor the Court Chamberlain Julius von Zech-Burkersroda in 1838. The Russians took over the castle which housed many refugees including about 100 children.

Schloss Börln was visited by King Friedrich August II. of Saxony on 1st September 1910. Count von Moltke is recorded in the Visitor's Book (visitors up to 1925). German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg was a regular visitor here; his daughter was the lady of the house.

History

Location

Börln is situated on the southern edge of the Dahlener Heide in the Free State (formerly Kingdom) of Saxony. On 31 December 1999 there were 571 inhabitants. Together with the adjacent hamlets, there are some 870 inhabitants over an area of 15 square kilometres.

The village is surrounded by forests and fields, ideal for horseriding and farming. At the edge of the village lies the "Hain", a small park with a pond fed by the Lossa stream.

Börln used to be the centre for a number of smaller villages which, in some cases, no longer exist. The central village forms the administrative centre, in which can be found the Schloss (castle), the Gutshaus (tenant's house from which the property was managed by the estate's tenant), the old school (now used by Lebensschule Mandala), an ice cellar, a watermill and a water well house. Unfortunately, the historic Brennerei (distillery) was torn down without permission in about 1994.

The village of Radegast also belonged to Börln and the small hamlet of Schwarzer Kater ("Black Tom Cat") is at a crossroad of the old trade routes on the "Hainstraße" including the Butter Route along the Via Regia (ancient trade route) which goes to Großenhain. The largest community is in Bortewitz, which used to be an independent village. Prempelwitz (between Börln and Radegast) and Mark Stolpen (between Börln and Heyda) have been lost in history. Only the old names remain, as: "Prempelberg" and "Stolpenteich".

Börln lies 5 km from the small town of Dahlen. Börln was absorbed for administrative purposes into Dahlen in 1994 and is now in the province of Nordsachsen. Grimma, to which Börln used to belong, is 35 km away and Oschatz some 15km away. Börln is 50km from Leipzig and 80 km from Dresden.

South of Börln lies the Collm, 315m above sea level. At the foot of this hill, it is said, began the history of Börln as here the ancient Slavonic tribes held their parliament.

Early settlement

The first signs of civilisation in the town are from the Bronze Age and many graves can still be found between Schildau and Ochsensaal. On the border of the river between Börln and Bortewitz, a farmer once found an urn, evidencing this theory.

The area was originally settled by Slavs and German settlers arrived between the 4th and 8th centuries. The last Slav tribe to live in the area was called the Daleminzier.

In 929 Burg Meißen was erected and colonisation occurred under King Heinrich I.

The name of Börln goes back to Slavonic times. A member of the founder family is mentioned in a record of 1198, on the occasion of the consecration of the Cisternian Cloister in Sitzenroda. Gunther, filius (son of) Zlabori was the last aristocratic witness to the consecration. The name Zlabori is the genitive and means the Slav Bor.

In this record the Cloister's land possessions are also mentioned, including the neighbouring estate of Zlabori in Belthelin which is nearby to the village of Frauwalde next to Börln.

The Castle

The representative Schloss Börln was built in the late baroque style. In the year 1620 the castle was completed as a U-shaped baroque building, replacing the moated fort. In 1800 and thereafter it was renovated and extended by its owner von Pfister. Further developments took place in 1880 in the "Gründerzeit" style under Graf von Zech-Burkersroda. The rear wings were demolished and one larger wing added on the north side. A sandstone gable and sandstone-surround window were added. Modernisation in the 1930s according to one story after a storm, but more likely due to an absence of sufficient windows, resulted in the disappearance of the gable and two sandstone-surrounded windows from the front facade. These will be rebuilt.

The castle was built on the remains of an early German moated fort. The moat is under the protection of the Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte (State Museum for Ancient History).

The castle's history naturally did not end with the expropriation of the owner in 1945. The manorial estate passed into the administration of the Soviet Army.

The castle became a temporary home to children from the lost German eastern provinces. There were 20 children who did not even know their names. After these children could be handed over to relatives, the Childrens' Home was disbanded in Summer 1946.

In the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s, the castle served other purposes. The ground floor was used as schoolrooms and for a long time, the school and retirement home coexisted as users of the building.

Parallel to the school use, thirty old and needy persons were given refuge in the castle. It was the beginning of the retirement and nursing home. The capacity was 70 in 1972 and in 1979/80 it reached a peak of 130 retired persons.

After the Peaceful Revolution in 1989 there were 85 residents. At the end of 2002 the residents and nurses moved to a new building in Dahlen.

It had already been decided in 2000 that the castle would no longer be used as a retirement home. The authorities in Torgau searched for a purchaser.

On 22 July 2003 the castle was sold to a private investor..

Website: www.schloss-boerln.com

External links

• www.schloss-boerln.com