Zinnitz Castle

The earliest mention of Zinnitz dates back to around 1255 in a document from Doberlugk Monastery, which refers to the von Cynnitz family. In 1301, the "curia Zcinnitz" was sold along with the March of Lusatia to Archbishop Burchard of Magdeburg. Subsequently, the manor was owned by the von Bocksdorf family for about 300 years. Dietrich III. von Bocksdorf, having pursued a legal career in the 15th century, rose to become Rector of Leipzig University. After the decline of the Bocksdorfs, the estate changed hands several times in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1786, Major General Philipp Ludwig Sigismund Bouton des Granges acquired the property, whose heirs sold it in 1837. In 1842, it came into the possession of the Prussian Finance Minister Erasmus Robert Freiherr von Patow, who had the castle rebuilt between 1860 and 1864, giving it its current late-classical appearance.