Confessions of a Castleholic

Have you ever driven on the German Autobahn ? And if you have, did you notice those brown signs along the road mentioning more or less obscure tourist attractions nearby? That is how I first learned about Schloss Hundisburg . I saw the sign for it about half a dozen times in the last couple of weeks when going from Hanover to Berlin or vice versa - and one Sunday I decided to do some spontaneous castle hunting, left the Autobahn and stopped at the Baroque palace near Magdeburg. Schloss Hundisburg is a fairly little known place but one with a fascinating history for two thirds of it burned down in 1945 - and reconstruction only started some 50 years later. Its origins dating back all the way to the 12th century, Schloss Hundisburg received its current Baroque appearance thanks to Johann Friedrich II von Alvensleben. The minister at the Hanoverian court of King George I of the United Kingdom had a former Renaissance castle located on the same site redeveloped into what became ...