Hello friends, I was overwhelmed by your comments and the fact, that my last pic was in the weekly gallery. Thanks for your nice comments here! This pic here shows the same place, and I believe I should resume a short history: This here (and my last pic, too) shows the water chateau Mellenthin, for many centuries the estate of a noble family. This place was first named in the 14th century. It was once an old water castle and was the seat of the family von Neuenkirchen. They were lower nobles with an agricultural background who owned the other farmers in the surrounding villages as their personal slaves. This form of personal slavery was very common in many European countries in middle and eastern Europe and existed in Russia at last till 1865. This house here were built in 1575 - 1580 by Ruediger of Nienkerken (Neunkirchen) and replaced the older castle. The architect should be the Italian Antonio Wilhelmi. The family of Neunkirchen ended in the 30 years lasting war between catholics and protestants (1618-1648) which destroyed the old Germany completely. When the war ended, this part of Germany became part of the kingdom of Sweden for 180 years, and the new owner was the swedish warlord and diplomat Johan Axelsson Oxenstierna who served his king as governor of the baltic province. After some years Oxenstierna went back to Sweden and served his king directly. New owner of Mellenthin became general Burchard von Luehne, which family owned the estate till 1747. In the following 200 years the house was sold three times, and after the Napoleonic wars this part of the baltic shore became part of the Preussian kingdom and went back to Germany. In 1818 the house was sold to the family Wittow, who hold the house till the end of WWII. This part of Germany became part of the communistic Germany, and noble families were no longer accepted. The owner was retired, and the estate was used as childrens garden, restaurant, local museum and had some flats for very normal people. There was no money and no material for repairs. After the fall of the wall, in 1991, the house was bought by a new private owner, a little foundation began to run and this building was changed into a hotel and a restaurant. This was the way we found it. Friends, thanks for your interest and your fine comments. Tomorrow I will show a pic from the inner yard. The northern parts of Germany, especially the part of the communistic Germany, is full of estates like this, and there is a lot to explore. From Berlin you need 2,5 till 3 hours with a car. Location: Mellenthin, Isle of Usedom, Baltic Sea. This pic was taken in May 2010