Mengelsdorf Castle

Slavs settled in the area around Mengelsdorf, two kilometers from Reichenbach between Löbau and Görlitz, as early as the 6th century. The Waldhufendorf once belonged to the Burgward Reichenbach. A document from 1387 names Ramphold von Gersdorff, who owned the estates of Reichenbach and Mengelsdorf and died in the said year, as the first documented owner. Subsequently, in addition to the von Gersdorff family, the Lords of Warnsdorf and the von Loeben family are also known as owners of the estate. Wolf Christian von Loeben, among other things, built the Vorwerk Löbensmüh as a widow's residence for his wife and had a school built. In 1741, a fire destroyed Mengelsdorf Castle, which was soon rebuilt as a Baroque manor house. The building still stands today behind the 19th-century castle.

A new era began when the manor passed to Georgine Louise Dorothea Hüpeden and Leuthold von Kurowski in 1859. Around 1860, Mrs. Hüpeden had a two-story L-shaped wing built, inspired by the English Tudor style of the 16th century. Its front faces the garden in front. An octagonal tower marks the western corner. On the east side, two corner towers with battlements flank a wide corner risalit. A central risalit, adorned with small turrets and battlements, rises centrally. An altana is situated in front of it on the ground floor. Mengelsdorf Castle thus follows the typical architectural forms of the Tudor style: polygonal turrets, bay windows, and battlements. The aim was to realize a romantic medieval dream.

Mengelsdorf Castle is also elaborately designed on the inside. From the garden, one enters through the portal into a wood-paneled entrance hall that extends over both floors. A gallery is equipped with a wooden balustrade. It is only a few steps to the corridor, to which the staircase adjoins laterally. Stucco ceilings adorn some rooms.

After World War II, the castle served as a hospital for the wounded. Since armistice negotiations took place at Mengelsdorf Castle at the end of the war, its demolition could be prevented. After the dissolution of the manor, a kindergarten initially moved into the rooms on the east side of the castle, later it served as a retirement and nursing home. Today, the "Caritasheim St. Hedwig" - a socio-therapeutic residential facility - is located in the castle.

The castle is surrounded by a landscape park from around 1830.