Top 3 Castles around Berne

The photo does not show Schönebeck Castle but Leuchtenburg Manor!

Wätjens Castle is currently inhabited by the artist Peter K. F. Krüger. One of his well-known works is the facade painting "Grandma and Grandpa" on Rembertiring in Bremen.

The park has existed since 1830. With the outbreak of the First World War, Wätjen, once the world's largest private sailing ship company, experienced its financial decline, and the park fell into a deep sleep. Only since Wätjen's Park became the property of the City of Bremen at the turn of the millennium has it been possible to gradually restore the landscape park according to its 19th-century design principles, and to preserve and develop it for future generations.

Beautiful brick castle in Wätjens Park.

In 1830, the Bremen merchant and shipowner Diedrich Heinrich Wätjen had purchased land for a summer residence on the Geest ridge between Vegesack and Blumenthal and had a country house built. From 1830 onwards, he had the park surrounding the building laid out in the style of a spacious English landscape garden according to plans by the landscape gardener Isaak Altmann. His son Christian Heinrich Wätjen expanded the property. The original house was replaced by a castle-like villa in the English Tudor Gothic style, which was built between 1858 and 1864 according to plans by the Bremen architect Heinrich Müller. The park is now known as Wätjens Park. In 1916, the Wätjen family sold the country estate, which had been converted into a military hospital at the start of the First World War. The park was divided between the neighboring industrial companies Bremer Vulkan and Bremer Wollkämmerei (BWK). The castle belonged to the Vulkan part. The pointed roof of the higher tower was removed during the Second World War. After the war, the roof and some gables were destroyed by fire. The roof was only temporarily rebuilt and made much flatter. After the Vulkan went bankrupt in 1997, the park portion was auctioned off privately. The city of Bremen later acquired the park land from this buyer and the BWK. The castle and other residential buildings remained in private ownership with the associated land. The plan to set up a restaurant in the castle was not realized. It contains apartments and the studio of an artist.

The hiking trail "View into the valley of the Schönebecker Aue" also leads along here. All information about the hiking trail can be found under the following links: https://www.kulturland-teufelsmoor.de/erlebniswelten/wandern/wanderrouten/schoenebecker-aue/ (as of September 29, 2024) https://bremer-schweiz.de/download/Dokumente/Faltblatt-Weite-Blicke.pdf (as of September 29, 2024).

The hiking trail "View into the valley of the Schönebecker Aue" also leads along here. All information about the hiking trail can be found under the following links: https://www.kulturland-teufelsmoor.de/erlebniswelten/wandern/wanderrouten/schoenebecker-aue/ (as of September 29, 2024) https://bremer-schweiz.de/download/Dokumente/Faltblatt-Weite-Blicke.pdf (as of September 29, 2024).

The hiking trail "View into the valley of the Schönebecker Aue" also leads along here. All information about the hiking trail can be found under the following links: https://www.kulturland-teufelsmoor.de/erlebniswelten/wandern/wanderrouten/schoenebecker-aue/ (as of September 29, 2024) https://bremer-schweiz.de/download/Dokumente/Faltblatt-Weite-Blicke.pdf (as of September 29, 2024).