Schloss Kittlitz

Schloss Kittlitz stands in the Löbau district of Kittlitz, a former manor house turned municipal building and cultural venue. Its origins lie in a medieval fortified homestead near a Slavic earthwork, later expanded into a small water castle east of today’s site. The village developed around two knightly estates, Oberkittlitz and Niederkittlitz, held by the Lords of Kittlitz until the mid-14th century. After changing hands several times, both estates were reunited in the 18th century by Karl Gotthelf von Hund, a leading freemason who made the manor a centre of local lodge meetings. The present two-storey building took shape in the 18th century with a mansard roof and an octagonal tower, a freemason’s motif also echoed in the village church. A later owner, Rittmeister Hugo Freiherr von Salza, added a conservatory and remodelled the entrance hall in 1909. After wartime use and Soviet occupation, the community took over the building in 1947, installing a kindergarten and health post. Restoration after reunification returned the schloss to public life, now hosting occasional cultural events. Visitors find a symmetrical two-storey house topped by a sweeping mansard roof and octagonal turret. Inside, the entrance hall and staircase date from the early 20th-century remodelling, while the eastern conservatory opens to the park. The surrounding grounds include the remains of old moats and a small pond once part of the water castle’s defences. The building houses the local council offices and a few cultural rooms, giving a quiet glimpse of the village’s layered history.