N8720083 This manor house is a historic property with over 7000 m ².  With 223 m ² floor space, the house contains its own vault wine cellar, a garage and even a ruin with a Pomorze tower.

 The property is fully opened.  Other structural measures are possible.

The castle is embeded in a picturesque landscape in the middle of vineyards with a delightful Moselle view.  The property has its own area of forest and offers innumerable possibilities of utilization, living quality, peace and the best infrastructure.

The manor house was built in 1902 and is attractive because of its good, solid construction quality.  Among other things, there are hand-made ceramic tiles in the kitchen, hall and in the living area.

 The first reorganization was tackled in 1955, and afterwards regular preservation measures were carried out.  The property possesses gas heating as well as a garage and a hothouse.

The settlement is on the Schieferkuppe, where today the ruin of the medieval castle still stands.  This ruin goes back to Roman times.

 Based on many historians opinions, a Roman precursor's building stood there in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Simply built loam huts are scattered throughout the castelgrounds, hinting at its Roman past.

 Because it is such a safe location, this castle was said to belong to a chain of Roman military arrangements which were installed along the Moselle in order to pass along news.  These installations all appeared at the time when Trier was an emperor's city.

 With the transfer of the emperor's residence in the year 395 to Milan, they lost their importance.  They were given up no later than in the first half of the 5th century or were destroyed during the campaigns of the Alemannen and Franconia.

 The oldest ancient coin uncovered was from the time of emperor Magnentinus (around 350).  The ceramics that were found were mostly from the end of the 4th century.

 The medieval castle arrangement (so-called " Veste ") was created in 960 by Count Palatine Hermann I.  At that time, the area was in the possession of the Frankish royal house to which Hermann belonged.

 There were still strategic advantages to the castle: the steep altitude, 90 meters above the river offered protection and granted a good view of the Moselle ditch. The castle was inhabited by the Count's stewards until 1140 and was in the possession of the royal house.

 The first well-known steward, a Lutger, was Polish queen Richeza, a daughter of the Count Palatine Ehrenfried. From 1140 to 1294 was the castle imperial property.

 As the king of 1294, Adolf von Nassau (1291 - 1298), was forced to give up his fortune, the castle was turned over to Kurtrier. Heinrich von Klotten, who, after Emicho from the Dauner noble family, was the second Kurtrierischer Lehnsträger of the castle.

 In 1321 archbishop Balduin von Luxemburg (1307-1354) got the permission to build a house nearby.  Heinrich von Klotten's only son, Johann, went into the priesthood.

 Because of this, the castle was given to his sister, Jutta, and her husband, Dietrich von Kesselstatt.  Subsequently there were major changes in who the castle belonged to.

  From 1410 to 1542 the knights of Winneburg inhabited the castle.   Between the different owners, there must have been many arguments about the subdivision of the castle arrangement.

 Probably to settle the quarrel, documents were made with the final subdivision of the castle arrangement.  There was also news about the earlier building activity on the 'Veste'.

 Between 1543 and 1547 a ` new building on the Veste ' was established which Heinrich von Hagen got.  The successors, the Winneburger, received in 1548 ` the old building and everything that Hagen had built.

 In spite of a common benefit to share the tower, cistern, forecastle and winepress house, it was common practice for both parties to wall up all the windows and doors facing eachother.  In the years 1575 and 1587, the house of Ulmen also got a piece of the the Hagen's estate.

 In 1654, the castle was divided and partially given to an heir from the Ulmen family and a successor from the Hoin von Hartenfels.  Then Johann Eberhard von Kesselstatt was known as an owner.

 In the 18th century, the castle completely went over to the rich lord of Kesselstatt and remained in his possession till 1917.  In the 18th and 19th century there is not much known about the castle.

 After Wackenroder, it was inhabited in 1830 and then was sold for demolition.  Certainly, the picture of Bodmer from the year 1831 still provides an impression of the size of the castle arrangement, but it also already shows clear signs of decay.

 On Clarkson Stanfields lithography from 1838 it can be seen only as a typically romantic background ruin.  A realistic recording of the 'ruins' holds in 1841.

 Only the destroyed two towers and the rest of a wall exist.  Then, at the beginning of 20th century, the ruin must have disintegrated so far that the collapse of the donjon was imminent.

 In a letter from 25/04/1906 from the head of the provincial government in Koblenz, the imperial count is asked by Kesselstatt to be allowed to carry out fusion work to prevent the collapse of the donjon and the damages to the vineyards connected with it.  Still, in the same year, the imperial-count's administration of this demand followed and let the master mason Wiss protect the castle.

 Already, in 1908, a winegrower complained in a letter to ` his Majesty. the emperor and King' of the bad condition of the castle ruin.

 Referring to the fusion measures of 1906, his complaint is rejected. We see the structural changes only from the new design in 1917, after the engineer Heppner had acquired the ruin.

 Heppner carried out reconstruction plans which were contrary to the guidelines of the conservation of monuments and historic buildings.  The provincial curator of that time of the Rhine province wrote in 1917, following concern about Heppners building projects to the District Administrator in Cochem: ` the new owner of the castle ruin has been in my absence two times in my office and has left behind his own sketches for the development.

 The good man has definitely no notion and seems to have the most incredible intentions to get rid of the outside tower..

..

" Certainly, Heppners request in 1918 with the building authorities was judged as ` not advantageous ', but this plan cannot be rejected on account of the not existing legal regulation at that time of the conservation of monuments and historic buildings strictly.  The addition was made.

 During the next few years, Heppner must have begun building a dwelling-house.  How this building would have looked in its final state is not known any more.

 Heppner had to sell in 1924 because of financial difficulties to the engineer, Hellenbroich.  One year after Hellenbroich aqcuired the ruin, the building of the dwelling-house was continued but was not finished.

 Only the following owner, consul Harney from Düsseldorf, concluded the building of the dwelling-house.  Also extensive repairs in the donjon and the old military wall can be owed to initiative and financial commitment.

 For the water supply, the well shaft had to be exposed entirely and renewed.  With the exposure in 1927, one found many remaining architectural parts: window rods as well as medieval ceramics and greenly glazed stove tiles.

 In a letter the mayor reported to the District Administrator that the finding " became carefully lifted and devotedly treated ".  At that time it was sent to a castle museum.

 Most of these findings were lost during the Second World War when the castle was rented.  Only some architectural parts like grooved vaults and grooved rib cuts still exist.

 In 1952, the daughter of the consul, Else Harney, took over the castle and furnished a ceramics factory there.  The large castle arrangement offered the possibility to develop many artistically demanding forms and glazes in peace.

 Numerous decorations and exhibitions happened both at home and abroad and her pieces quickly aqcuired international fame. In the castle an exhibition room was furnished for interested guests and buyers.

 In 1972 a Wendelin steel wood stove was built in which new glazes were tested.  The use of the natural ash approach in case of the oxygen-poor reduction fire let ceramics works and glazes change into delightful new colors.

 But the castle was not only a place of residence and workshop.   The preservation of the medieval castle ruin is constantly maintained and was fully carried out in 1982.

 Since the death of Else Harneys in 1985, Wendelin steel continued the workshop up until Wendelin's death in the summer of 2000.