Friedelhausen Castle

Schloss Friedelhausen stands beside the Lahn between Marburg and Gießen, a short distance south of Sichertshausen. The newer building sits about two hundred metres north of the older manor house known as the Hofgut. Both lie along the river in the rolling countryside of central Hesse. The older house, a two-storey stone building with a side stair-tower, was raised in the 16th century. The newer castle was begun in 1852 for Adalbert von Nordeck zur Rabenau and his wife Clara. Their daughter Luise later married into the Schwerin family, who still own the estate today. The castle is built in the English Tudorgothic style by the Newcastle architect John Dobson. Its cube-shaped body is faced in dark Lungstein basalt quarried nearby, a stone that is soft enough for fine carving. Inside, the Kassel artist Reinhard Hochapfel painted walls and ceilings in bright illusionist patterns. Original furniture and wallpapers survive from the 19th century. A programme of restoration supported by the German Foundation for Monument Protection has repaired damage caused by rising damp. Visitors walk up the tree-lined avenue from the east to reach the castle gate. Two memorial columns stand along the drive, one for Adalbert von Nordeck and the other for his son Adolf Reinhard. The older manor house, now a Demeter farm with a farm shop, lies lower by the riverbank. Rainer Maria Rilke stayed at the castle for weeks in 1905 and 1906 as the guest of Gräfin Luise von Schwerin, who encouraged his writing and introduced him to his first patron.