The best MTB trails in Am Spitzberg

already filled with water, natural monument

As state property of the GDR, the palace, which had survived the war largely undamaged, served as a retirement and nursing home until reunification. During this time, the complex began to deteriorate progressively, which was only barely halted. Thanks to the work of a group of Polish restorers since the early 1980s, the palace's garden facade was largely restored to its original condition. In the early 1990s, the municipality sold the palace complex to a private investor named Grimm. It later became a holding company, which is gradually restoring the late Baroque palace complex. To date, the facade of the courtyard, the adjacent orangery and administration buildings, as well as the teahouse in the park, have been restored. Extensive restoration work has taken place inside, including the ceiling and wall paintings, as well as the late neoclassical staircase. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Nischwitz

After further changes of ownership, extensive renovations were carried out on the ground floor in the mid-19th century under the direction of Gustav Adolf Boenisch. During this time, the Baroque staircase was replaced by a prestigious late-classical staircase and adorned with large wall and ceiling paintings. At this time, the Rococo park, designed by Friedrich August Krubsacius, was also transformed into an English landscape garden with tea pavilions, stone statues, and vases. In 1848, the von Ritzenberg family had a family crypt built in the form of a Doric temple in this park. Towards the end of the century, in 1888, Kurt von Zimmermann[3] purchased the Nischwitz Palace and Estate. In the final days of World War II, the von Zimmermann family fled from advancing Soviet troops and was expropriated during the Soviet occupation of 1945–1949. Later efforts by the family to regain their property after German reunification were unsuccessful, except for the return of some furniture. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Nischwitz

The history of the castle dates back to the late Middle Ages.[2] The village, along with the associated manor, was acquired by the von Nischwitz family in 1450, and received its name from them. In 1714, after the old manor had fallen into disrepair, the then owner, Baron von Rackwitz, Chamberlain of the Electorate of Saxony, commissioned the construction of a new castle with appropriate outbuildings and a park. Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann was the architect. After its completion in 1721, the property changed hands several times over the years. Finally, Count Heinrich von Brühl acquired the property in 1743. Around 1750, he had the property converted into his summer residence in the Rococo style under the direction of the chief architect, Johann Christoph Knöffel. The extensive extensions and renovations created an ensemble that has survived to this day, with its spacious courtyard, orangery, administrative buildings, and the palace park adjacent to the garden. However, much of the original, precious interior furnishings has been lost. The late Baroque wall and ceiling paintings in the garden and ballroom, attributed to the Italian painter Stefano Torelli, are worth seeing. They depict hunting scenes and mythological scenes. During the Seven Years' War, Prussian troops marched into Saxony in 1758. They occupied and plundered the palace. After the death of Heinrich von Brühl, his heirs sold the property to the Leipzig lawyer Philipp Heinrich Lastrop. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Nischwitz

Hotel and Restaurant ... Info at https://www.schloss-wurzen.de/

The massive building on a rectangular ground plan with its southeastern and northwestern corner towers, as well as the deep, dry moat with its medieval drawbridge, mark the transition from a medieval castle to a late Gothic palace. The spatial layout, the spiral stone, the curtain-arch windows on the towers and on the first floor, and especially the cell vaults with their reticulated figuration in the interior, point to direct connections with Albrechtsburg Palace in Meissen, whose master builder, Arnold von Westfalen, significantly pioneered palace architecture in Saxony. The construction cost 14,000 Reichstaler. With the exception of two destroyed towers, the palace survived various wartime threats and fires. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Wurzen

As early as 995, the Diocese of Meissen acquired Wurzen and the Wurzen region, which became an administrative unit of the Bishopric of Meissen in the 14th century. Bishop Johann VI of Saalhausen, who was striving intensively to reform his diocese, had the castle built between 1491 and 1497 as an additional bishopric outside of Meissen. After its completion, he resided here relatively frequently in addition to his stays at Stolpen Castle. Recent research suggests that the Meissen cathedral master builder Klaus Kirchner, who died in 1494, was the designer of this architecturally significant structure.[1] In 1631, the two towers burned down and were severely damaged. Many valuable details adorn the building, such as the late Gothic niche portal, above which is a heraldic stone. The entrance hall features a high cell vault; in total, there are more than 40 cell vaults of various sizes in the castle. Wurzen Castle was the residence of the bishops of Meissen until 1581. On October 20, 1581, the last bishop, Johann IX von Haugwitz, abdicated. After that, the building served as the seat of the Wurzen Abbey until 1856.[2] Later, the building was used by the district court and, after 1945, by the police. On June 17, 2002, the Wedekind family purchased the property. One year later, on August 17, 2003, the restaurant area (cellar and ground floor of the main building) was completed. In August 2004, the hotel in the adjacent building (the granary) opened with twelve double rooms and one single room. In total, Wurzen Castle encompasses 6,600 m² of land and 3,300 m² of space. Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Wurzen

Very nice view of the Mulde