What to do with Schlobitten Castle?

[Luftwaffles]

Schlobitten Castle was a luxury property built for and occupied by the Dohna family, which owned the property from 1695 all through the final stages of World War 2, when they were forced to flee the Estate amidst extreme winter conditions in January of 1945.

Not long after the former occupants had left for the relative security of West Germany, the Soviets arrived in the village of Schlobitten and began ransacking the building, then set it ablaze (no doubt motivated by their natural hatred of the Junker lifestyle and as a way of avenging what the Germans had done to their own land).

Fast forward to our days and we find the sad remamants of what used to be one of Europe's finest architectural triumphs, decaying fast following 80 years of neglect by whoever bought the property after the battle dust had settled.

Because that's actually it, the charred remains of Schlobitten Castle are marked as private property and have been fenced off to that effect. It blows my mind to no-end to think that someone was wealthy enough to buy such a large piece of land (even if damaged) and went through the effort of fencing it off (which the aforementioned size would have made no cheap task), just to let it rot. People have made at least one big hole through this fence and the castle's grounds and interiors are fair game to anyone willing to brave them, but that still feels utterly wrong.

And believe me, me choosing the words "brave them", was not in the name of literary embellishment... this is a decaying building and should be approached as such.   

I got my Pole and German-speaking friends to translate some comments on the property for me and those get increasingly sad and dangerous the newer they become, with people talking almost intensely about the worsening situation of the building, questioning the lack of measures to keep people out (just the fence and a single message, in Pole, warn people about traveling past the gates) and informing disfavorable changes to the landscape, including the flooding of the cellars and the cave-in of the farm's ceiling.  

if it were up to me, I'd either get the building back to its former glory or I'd erect it as a museum for the horrors of war, but neither of those options are sadly up to myself (nor do I own the necessary wealth to tackle those issues).

Count Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten went through great lengths to ensure that his personnel survived the ordeal of traveling westward, alongside a frozen path that was swarming with Russian air and artillery activity, just to lead everyone to safety (the caravan even brought 31 bloodmares of the Trakehner race with them, assuring the survival of that race), so I can't help feeling bad for him when he was informed that his family's historical residence, home of many Prussian heroes, was destroyed and left to rot inside another country, right after Schlobitten was given, alongside the rest of East Prussia, to Poland and renamed Slobity. 

Below I'll attach a couple of pictures from the same Castle, one in its days of glory and the other representing it as it is today.

Sad, isn't it? But to me the real tragedy is that, at the peak of production, Schlobitten Castle gave work to 300 people, whilst nowadays none of Slobity's 585 inhabitants have work on the village's largest parcel.

There are so many things wrong with this. Something needs to be done, because Schlobitten Castle / Slobity Palace is heading to the same direction as the wreck of the Titanic, doomed to collapsing on its own in due time, but this is entirely preventable. And I don't think enough people care about it to step up and save one of Europe's finest buildings.

What do you guys think?

[shisteer of nothing much]

Interesting. I mean, personally, I'd want it restored, then suggest turning it into a museumish thing. (Sort of like what happened with Larnach Castle in Dunedin)
However, sometimes such things are easier said than done. Whether or not restoring it would be possible depends on how much structural damage it's taken and, even if it is possible, it will be extremely expensive and involve a lot of hard work, more so if they decide to rebuild it completely. Whoever takes the project on will need to be very perseverant and have heaps of money and resources at their disposal.

[Luftwaffles]

Interesting. I mean, personally, I'd want it restored, then suggest turning it into a museumish thing. (Sort of like what happened with Larnach Castle in Dunedin)
However, sometimes such things are easier said than done. Whether or not restoring it would be possible depends on how much structural damage it's taken and, even if it is possible, it will be extremely expensive and involve a lot of hard work, more so if they decide to rebuild it completely. Whoever takes the project on will need to be very perseverant and have heaps of money and resources at their disposal.

Very well said, Teer.

I just hope (like, sincerely hope) that it isn't allowed to collapse on itself. That would be a crime against art, honestly.

And also that it doesn't collapse on anyone. That'd just be a crime.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Yeah, that would be sad. *looks in piggy bank* Maybe we should all save up, by the castle, restore it and have it as our forum meetup base?

[Luftwaffles]

Yeah, that would be sad. *looks in piggy bank* Maybe we should all save up, by the castle, restore it and have it as our forum meetup base?

That... Man, I'd love that so much.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Now that I think about it, that would be so much fun. I can contribute... a bit. How much do you reckon we'll need?

[Luftwaffles]

Now that I think about it, that would be so much fun. I can contribute... a bit. How much do you reckon we'll need?

Millions, plus permission from the Dohna-Schlobitten family, whoever owns the land and the Polish government.

*SIGHS*.