Pottschaplitz Manor

In the year 1559, the chronicle of Bischofswerda mentions in an event that "Hans v. Maren held Pottschapplitz as a fief". The current manor house of the knight's estate dates back to Adam Gottlieb Zwirner. The town clerk of Bischofswerda bought the estate in 1709 and had a two-story baroque building with two portals erected. The basket arch of the right portal shows the year 1717, the monogram AGZ, and a coat of arms. The richly decorated coat of arms, depicting a heron, was, however, invented by Zwirner himself to keep up with the noble estate owners in the vicinity.

When Zwirner died in 1740, he was mayor of Bischofswerda. His widow sold the knight's estate in 1761 to a Mr. von Criegern, who was followed by around 50 other mostly bourgeois owners and tenants over 400 years. In 1791, a marriage between Jacob Heinrich (Württemb. Major) and Sophia Eleonora Reut, née Thielemann, at Pottschapplitz near Bischofswerda is documented.

In a land register of a property in the village, two owners were named as knight's estate owners. In the said land register, a Mr. Robert Julius Döring is entered in 1880, but whether he was also the owner of the knight's estate cannot currently be confirmed with certainty. The subsequent changes of ownership of the knight's estate in 1890 to Dr. jur. Hans Otto and again in 1905 to Richard Max Schulze are considered certain. This is also confirmed by existing tax documents of the municipality of Pottschapplitz from the years 1880 to 1930. The knight's estate of Pottschapplitz, unlike the larger estates, did not fall under the land reform after the Second World War. The knight's estate, like the other farms in the village, was more or less voluntarily incorporated into the LPG (Agricultural Production Cooperative). Since then, several apartments have been housed in the manor house. The LPG used the buildings of the four-sided enclosed courtyard as stables, storage rooms, offices, and apartments. The large barn directly opposite the manor house was demolished after 1990 due to severe dilapidation. The remaining buildings are also awaiting thorough renovation. The Schulze family regained their property after the fall of the Berlin Wall but sold the entire knight's estate a few years later. The current owner comes from and lives in the old federal states.

Unfortunately, the adjacent small park has also lost its well-maintained appearance and only reminds of its former glory through the magnificent trees.

Overview of the owners/fief holders of the Pottschapplitz Knight's Estate

• 1477 Carlowitz
• before 1488 Oswald von der Olßnitz
• from 1488 Christoph von Haugwitz
• from 1488 Hans von Mynnewitz zu Naußewitz
• 1490 Alex von Naußelitz
• from 1499 Melchior and Hans von Haugwitz
• 1519 Nikel, Hans, Melchior, Balthasar Brothers von Tschirnhausen
• before 1559 Hans v. Hermsdorf
• 1559 Hans v. Maxen
• 1559 Partial sale to Georg von Maxen
• 1592-1609 Caspar von Klüx
• 1607 Paul Rohrscheidt
• 1609/10-1672 Ernst Albrecht von Alnpeck
• 1672-1709 Christoph III Vitzthum von Eckstädt
• 1709-1740 Adam Gottlieb Zwirner
• 1740-1761 Widow/Descendants Zwirner
• after 1761 Karl Friedrich von Criegern
• after 1761 v. Oppel
• 1761 v. Wangenheim
• after 1761 v. Linnenfeld
• before 1823 Rudolf von Bünau
• xxxx-1828 Reichsritter Edler von Ehrenthal
• 1828-xxxx Eduard Uhlme
• xxxx-1890 Robert Julius Döring
• 1890-1905 Dr. jur. Hans Otto
• from 1905 Max Schulze
• from 19XX Mr. Alkhofer