Trespassing Into History

First it was a magnificent bath house, then an entrepreneur transformed the gleaming building on the Saale river into the Sonor drum factory. Stars still beat the beat on its products today. But the original building has been abandoned and is waiting to be revived.

A large piece of floor is missing right next to the spacious hall on the second floor, which still retains its former splendor. Rusty steel beams hang in the air, provisionally braced with a few meters of fluttering tape. The light shines through the semi-circular windows onto the remains of the wooden wall paneling, which is... (more)

In the small village of Rethwisch, which simply means “meadow with reeds”, there has been a noble estate since the late Middle Ages.

Later, the Dukes of Holstein-Rethwisch, a collateral line of the Dukes of Holstein-Plön that only existed for 60 years, resided here for a short 30 years. Duke Joachim Ernst of Holstein-Plön had divided off the new principality, but retained it in personal union.

On his death in 1671, the Rethwisch line became independent under his third son of the same name, who had the castle built in 1699. However, the last Duke of Rethwisch, Johann Adolf, died childless in 1729. ...(more)

The second place we had on our list for my wife's birthday tour in 2020 was only about five minutes away from the old cemetery we had visited first.

Here, too, there was a parking lot right outside the door, so to speak. However, the building - a former seeds station - is surrounded by a fairly large open space. It is therefore almost impossible to enter unnoticed. So we looked for a point on the path surrounding the site where the building was between us and the residential area opposite, so that we at least had the feeling that we wouldn't be seen immediately as we walked across the field.

When we arrived at the building, we immediately saw an open door through which we were granted access...(more)