Seußlitz Castle

The Baroque castle Seußlitz is located in Diesbar-Seußlitz, a district of the municipality Nünchritz in Saxony.

A first mention dates back to 1205, according to which a moated castle existed in Seußlitz. Around 1250 to 1265, the Margrave of Meissen, Heinrich the Illustrious, had a country castle built in Seußlitz. He is said to have intended to move his residence entirely to Seußlitz, but this was not realized. In 1268, he donated the castle to the Poor Clares as the nunnery St. Afra, whereupon it was rebuilt until 1272. At the same time, the Margrave transferred the Dresden church of Our Lady, including the patronage of the Dresden parish, as well as the Maternus Hospital there, to the Poor Clare monastery of Seußlitz.

Like the Meissen monastery Heilig Kreuz, the monastery was mediatized and, after the Reformation in 1541, fell to sequestration. In 1545, it was acquired as a Vorwerk by the Electoral Saxon Chancellor Simon Pistoris and was first documented as a manor in 1552.

In 1722, the property fell to Heinrich von Bünau (1665–1745), who from this point on had the current Baroque castle built on the foundations of the monastery according to plans by the master carpenter George Bähr.

In 1799, the merchant Johann Christian Clauß became the owner of the castle. From 1880 to 1928, the Leipzig art collectors Julius Harck and Fritz von Harck, and from 1928, the manufacturer Willi Böttger, owned the castle. In 1945, the owners were dispossessed and expelled by the communists.

From 1945, the castle was in municipal ownership and was used as a retirement home; in 2000, the seniors moved out. The new owner is the Munich architect Stephan Braunfels, who acquired it from the municipality in 2001.