Granitz Hunting Lodge
The hunting lodge Granitz is located on the island of Rügen on a wooded hill near Binz. With over 250,000 visitors a year, it is the most visited castle in Mecklenburg- Vorpommern.
Location
The castle is located in about one thousand acres of woodland Granitz, which belongs to the Southeast Rügen Biosphere Reserve since 1991. It belongs to the municipality of Binz.
The name Temple Mount for the highest mountain in the Granitz dates from the 18th century, when was still a small hexagonal Belvedere at the site of the present castle. From Ostseebad Binz, the castle is the fastest to reach the Rügenscher small train or Jagdschlossexpress.
History
The Granitz belonged since 1472 to the men Putbus. Count Moritz Ulrich I had in 1726 built an observation tower and the cabin " Solitude ". In 1800 the tower was demolished, modernized the cabin.
1807 Wilhelm Malte was raised to Putbus in the Swedish prince stand for representative purposes he planned the new hunting lodge at the highest elevation Ostrügens, the 107 m above sea level. NN high Temple Mount. In the years 1838-1846 it was built by order of Prince Wilhelm Malte I. Putbus. Since the prince dealt sparingly with his means, he spent only 6000 dollars a year to build on, so pulled this way by 1846. The interior design but took even longer. The Granitz Hunting Castle was built by the Berlin architect and master builder Johann Gottfried Steinmeyer in the style of Northern Italian Renaissance castles. It is provided with four corner towers and a central tower. In the rooms of the castle are various exhibitions to visit.
It was once a popular destination for European nobles and celebrities; as Friedrich Wilhelm IV, Christian VIII, Otto von Bismarck and Elizabeth von Arnim and Johann Jacob Grümbke were among the visitors.
Upon completion, the old hunting house was demolished, there was erected in 1847, the tavern " Granitz ", there also lived the Granitzer forester.
The hunting lodge was until 1944 owned by the family of Putbus and stood after the detention of Malte of Putbus administered by the National Socialists. Definitively it was expropriated in the course of the East German land reform and is still located in state hands. After the end of World War II in 1945 went to the furnishings lost; some Kunstgut was taken to the Berlin painting custodian of the agency for the management of Soviet assets in Germany and in 1953 passed to the Berlin State Museums. From 1983 to 1990, the castle was completely restored and supplemented the inventory in the old style.
Aspirations of the grandson of Malte of Putbus, Franz Putbus to regain the family back, failed in court. The building is now used as a museum.
The plant was again restored at the beginning of the 21st century at a cost of 7.9 million euros.
Central tower
In the middle of the building, in the former courtyard, the subsequently built according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel 38 m high central tower rises. It houses inside a cantilevered spiral staircase with 154 cast iron steps. The static forces of the heavy iron stairs are completely absorbed by the side walls; because it is virtually clamped into the tower.
From 144 m above sea level high viewing platform on the roof of the tower has a panoramic view in all directions, but especially on the south and east of Rügen. On a clear day you can even see as far Usedom.
Exhibitions
Exhibits include old hunting rifles, the exhibition deer in the world, but also furniture of the 19th century. There are also changing exhibitions, for example, of paintings. Under the guidance of experts of the Pomeranian State Museum in Greifswald, a permanent exhibition about Prince Malte I. Putbus and its castle building project is designed.