Schönfeld Castle

Schönfeld Castle is a Renaissance and Baroque-inspired building in Schönfeld, a district of Bismark-Steinfeld in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The town of Schönfeld, ten kilometers west of the Altmark center of Stendal, had been owned by the noble family von Rundstedt since the end of the 12th century. In 1873, Otto von Rundstedt commissioned the construction of a representative castle west of the old manor house. Work began with the creation of a pond, the excavation of which served as the basis for the building to be constructed. Within three years, a sprawling two-story plastered building was erected on a high cellar plinth and with a striking mansard hip roof. The north-facing main facade features a three-axis central risalit, into which the main portal is set. Two wings are attached to the south. While the western wing protrudes only slightly beyond the south front, the eastern wing is designed with a single axis. A large terrace with balustrades was created between the two wings. Above the garden portal is the coat of arms of the von Rundstedt family. The entire south front above the ground floor is decorated with a stucco band. The interiors are adorned with stucco ceilings and partly decorated with wall and ceiling paintings. In 1885, a student of landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné laid out an 87,625 m² castle park in the style of an English landscape park. The manor pond and parts of the then 700-year-old tree population were included.

In 1945, the castle was expropriated as part of the land reform ordered by the Soviet occupation forces and put to communal use. While the von Rundstedt family reacquired their agricultural estate in 1993, the castle was sold in 1996 by the state of Saxony-Anhalt to an East Frisian family, who converted the building into a hotel that operated until 2007. The plan to use the castle as a senior residence from 2011 could not be realized.