Lungkwitz Castle

The complex of Lungkwitz Castle and Collegiate Estate at the northern exit of Lungkwitz originated from an old moated castle, built before 1445. The complex comprises several larger buildings grouped around an elongated courtyard.

The oldest building is the Old Manor House (today referred to as the Tower Barn), built around 1550. The presumed builders are Hans von Carlowitz auf Zuschendorf (1547) or Hans von Zschieren (1551). The house contained stables on the ground floor and stately apartments on the upper floor. On the courtyard side, there is a stair tower with a Welsche Haube (Welsh bonnet) and a pointed lantern.

The castle building was erected between 1619 and 1621 under Peter von Zschieren at the northwest corner of the estate as a Renaissance building and was originally surrounded by moats. It consists of two orthogonally aligned building wings connected by a stair tower. The building features gabled roofs and decorative gables.

In 1724, the estate was sold to the Electoral Saxon Court and Justice Councillor Dr. Johann Christian Bennemann. After his death, it passed to his widow Christiane Bennemann, who converted it into a charitable foundation in 1760. This Bennemann Foundation included the establishment of an old people's home for eighteen impoverished Protestant widows or virgins of higher standing and respectable origin, over 50 years of age. Their apartments were set up in the castle.

Opposite the castle, the building of the Widows' Foundation was constructed in 1842, featuring small apartments, a dining vault, a communal kitchen, and a laundry room. The building has two sandstone niche portals with seating.

The estate also included the Administrator's House (1832), an elongated stable building (1882), and a richly designed garden, which was transformed into an English landscape park starting in 1831.

The estate, with over 400 hectares of land, was expropriated by the communists in 1945/46 and legally transferred to the municipality of Lungkwitz. The castle building and parts of the ancillary facilities have since been used for apartments, but after 1990, some parts stood empty and fell into disrepair. As part of an emergency securing measure, the tower cap of the Old Manor House was removed in 1993 and stored in the courtyard.

Since 2011, the building complex has been undergoing phased renovation for residential purposes. So far, the Old Manor House and the Widows' Foundation have been completed. The stair tower of the Old Manor House received its tower cap back. The renovation of the actual castle building was completed by the end of 2014.