Formerly Saxony's second largest manorial estate with 800 Ha. of agricultural land and 400 Ha. of forest

The building was already standing in 1617. On the ground floor was the coachhouse and a chapel, which was later used as stables/storage, thereafter as a club room for the retirement home.

To the east on the first upper floor lived the gardener family and to the west equipment for horses was formerly kept.

Later, this was used as a meeting room for the BDM "Federation of German Girls" and after the War ended, as apartments / rooms for refugees.

The former gardener's apartment, home to the Hennig family, was modified and used as offices for the retirement home and was fully renovated in 2003 for residential purposes.

After the expropriation in 1945, the agricultural land and forest were redistributed to the Soviet styled "LPG" agronomic unit and so-called "Neubauern" lit. new farmers who were really refugees or local citizens. These allocations were too small to be economically viable and the new owners were forced to hand them over to be incorporated into the LPG. The following villages belonged to the manor of Börln: Bortewitz, Frauwalde, Schwarzer Kater, Radegast, Deutsch- und Wendisch-Luppa, Knatewitz (northernmost section of Meltewitz) and Ochsensaal. On the oldest available map dated 1617 and again on the map of 1807 one can see the "Viehhoff" (farmyard) but the building on the western side which was probably stables was demolished in 1807, permitting a view of the lake from the castle. The "Viehhoff" changed after Baron von Pfister's alterations into the castle's forecourt.

Located to the north of the castle, the wellhouse was converted to WCs, then to garages. In front of the entrance there was an artesian well, whose water was recommended by experts for children. The village of Börln only received piped water in 1987!

After 1945 the pavilion, which is a listed monument, was walled in for use as a mortuary so that many beams rotted away. The walls were demolished and the woodwork and roof restored in 2006 - 2007.

In 1617 the brewery was located at the western side of the village - later the cabbage garden was located here. In 1870 the brewery was newly formed and a building erected on the north-western border of the castle building ensemble, in 1880 called Rittergutsbrauerei Graf Zech-Burkersroda, in 1886 Rittergutsbrauerei Graf Zech Max Richter, 1890 Rittergutsbrauerei Graf Zech C. Helbig, 1906 Rittergutsbrauerei Graf Zech-Burkersroda Alfred Schade. The building was still standing in 1945 situated west of the Inspector House but was then demolished. No photos have been found to date. In the sister building, which is at 90 degrees to the Inspector House, the malt cellar is still to be seen. Here, malt was prepared for the brewery. Serfs lived on top and latterly also the milker. In the ground floor lived the Uhlitzsch family until the early 1960s. Mr. Heinz Uhlitzsch was the head of the LPG. Next door, in a former stables, a schoolroom was set up in which children received training in mechanical skills from the teacher Mr. Kuchar. He also taught technical drawing in the school building in the village.

The historic ice cellar was restored in 2001 and belongs to the Town of Dahlen. Lighting can only be switched on from the Tenant's House so it can seldom be used. Blocks of ice were hewed from the lake and carried in to the cellar in winter. The entrance lies to the north and the entrance for carrying in the ice is relatively small and high up. The cellar is well insulated against latent heat in the earth as well as the air above. The walls are massive, built with stone. The temperature of the earth is (allowing for seasonal variations) on average between 8 °C and 10 °C.
 
The ice cellar was constructed in a cylindrical shape as this allows for a better relationship of the upper surface to the lower areas than would be the case if the room had a rectangular shape. At the same time, the round shape allows for a higher resistance against the external pressure. Due to the high water table level, part of the ice cellar is above ground and covered by an earthen mound. Before the ice was carried in to the cellar in winter, the door was left open on a frosty day to absorb the damp and cool the cellar.

The former brandy and latterly potato schnapps distillery built in 1800 was commandeered by the Russians in 1945, much to the dismay of the mayor. In 1990 ownership passed to the BVVG (German State). In the 1990s, the tenant of the land (the buildings were not leased) Karl Hermann Stein, used cheap unemployed labour supplied by the labour office in Oschatz on the pretext of work for a horseriding association and demolished the historic distillery and very large potato shed without the required demolition permit from the authorities or the owner. The rubble was placed in the castle park (also a national monument) creating an approximately 9,000 m³ dump which Landrat Schöpp stated was "condoned by the Town of Dahlen". "Due to a possible fine of only 50 Euros", the building authority in Torgau wrote it was not interested in taking the matter further: " a criminal investigation into the surrounding circumstances appears with respect to the cost-benefit to be out of proportion". These were the words of the building authority in Torgau regarding the destruction of an historic building and aspect of the manorial estate. This decision gave the wrong signal, with the result that the perpetrator continued to demolish or considerably alter other nearby historic buildings such as the cowshed (already standing in 1617) and the last section of the tenant's house without any permission and once again without any punishment by the authorities in Torgau who again failed to uphold the law.

Potato schnapps distillery. Distiller Birke's apartment was on the first floor

Potato shed during the illegal demolition

Half-timbered, built in 1732, no longer used as a water mill after 1866. A meeting house after WWII, then used for residential purposes. Sold in 2007 by the City of Dahlen. Mill Garden: In 1617 "Freß Garten" / Victuals Garden; during the Land Reform allocated to the Hennig gardener family. After 1990 owned by the BVVG which leased it to Karl Hermann Stein who felled the beautiful apple orchard. The Mill itself now has no garden.

Built in 1863, in use until 1938. preserved, needs restoring. Located on the road to Heyda.

End of village, directon of Ochsensaal. Built about 1850. Demolished in 1964 by the Breitenborn family as it was in a poor state of repair.

Built in 1878 it was first leased then sold by the Town of Dahlen to "Lebensschule Mandala, Schule des Herzens".

The building is in good order but the old smithy Mr. Sommerweiß died in 2010 and the future use is uncertain.

In 1880 the best wool in Oschatz came from Börln's sheep farm which was well known for its Merino stock. The sheep farm buildings burnt down in 1984 and were changed into horse stables in 1994.

To the east of the castle was the Cabbage Garden. Many years ago the original brewery and a hop plantation were also to be found here. In the GDR, residential dwellings were built on this site, named the "Straße der Deutsch-Sowjetischen-Freundschaft" (Street of German-Soviet Friendship), renamed "Neue Gartenstrasse" (New Garden Street) after 1990. All other roads in Börln have retained their GDR names, such as Karl-Marx-Strasse (Dorfstrasse), Ernst-Thälmann-Platz, Clara-Zetkin-Strasse (previously an unnamed private road in the core of the estate), Otto-Nuschke-Strasse (Lindenallee), Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Strasse, Philipp-Müller-Strasse.

Count von Zech-Burkersroda donated a large piece of land behind the Hain Forest to the people of Börln, on which a gymnasium was built. When the roof was renovated, the valuable slate tiles were not re-used, instead they are to be found on the roof of a private house directly opposite the clubhouse of the football club "Fussballverein SV Traktor Börln 1954 e.V.".

Erected before 1617, it contained a doorway through which the courtyard and castle could be reached over a moat. Used used until 1945 as apartments (Estate Inspector, Coachman/Chauffeur) and as a laundry. Thereafter, the retirement home manager lived in the inspector's apartment, other staff also had apartments, there was a kitchen for the LPG where the laundry used to be, later a youth club. There was also a sewing room. Roof timbers were in a parlous state and the entire roof in danger of collapsing. Restoration in 2006 - 2008 using local joiner experts resulted in the inspector and coachman apartments having solid wood hand-made doors and floors, in keeping with the original and in accordance with the prescriptions of the Monument Protection Law.

Photo: about 1960, Werner Breitenborn

Börln's old inn, where many a night was danced away, has been desolate for many years; the north side now has a tin roof. The property is used as a storage site for steel parts.

Copyright (C) 2013 Von Kirchbach Family

Text and all images unless specifically mentioned Copyright (C) 2016-26 Roderick Hinkel

The manorial estate brewery was located behind the flat-roofed serfs' house shown in the photo and was demolished post-1945. The end of the historic tenant's house was demolished without permission in 2001. The graphic display of a gate shows the approximate position of the old wooden gate to the farmyard.

Until 2001 a garage with workshop pit

National monument approximately 1000 years old, now dry, half the moat was canalised in 1981 by the LPG so that a neighbouring marsh could be drained and used as horse paddocks; untreated foamy water flowed in from the stables which until 2012 belonged to Karl Hermann Stein and even today from the sewerage overflow from the entire village of Schwarzer Kater 2 km away.

A few years after the illegal demolition the tenant applied to the Town of Dahlen to purchase the only road to the property. A higher bid was made by the BVVG (hoping thereby to offset the aimed-for diminution in the value of their property) sent by registered post which was signed for, one learned post ipso facto, that the mayor Johannes Rudolph withheld this from the town councillors – to their knowledge there was only one purchase offer from the tenant, the deputy mayor Karl Hermann Stein. Although the road was a public highway, the town council of Dahlen passed a majority decision to sell it to him. The Landrat had to inform the mayor Mr. Rudolph that the decision was illegal as a public highway cannot be sold and the decision had to be reversed. The tenant then applied for the road to be changed from a public highway to private use with no insurance for users. The town councillors were at first unsure but succumbed to his threats to institute proceedings against them. He then applied to have a huge area around the Tenant's House which he had purchased from the Town (about 55% of this area belonged to the BVVG) demarcated for a period of two years as a "Special Area", with a ban on building and building planning. A perfect plan. The town councillors believed something wonderful was being planned for Börln and supported and approved the application. In the ensuing two years, no plans were submitted at all. Six months after the expiry of the two-year blockade, the tenant applied for another two-year blockade, which the town councillors approved. During these periods the owners of properties placed in the blockaded area (altogether four years) could not seek planning permission nor build anything. They were not compensated for this extraordinary imposition on their citizens' rights. The BVVG wanted to sell the distillery property. In its public offer it mentioned the "Special Area" status and also that the only access road was no longer a public highway. Despite these unattractive conditions it was sold but the tenant, despite his plot, was outbid. The town councillors were not in the least interested that the BVVG (i.e. the German Government) and the Town of Dahlen had incurred losses through the reduced price caused by their actions which they justified, as can be verified in the minutes of meetings, as having been taken "on political grounds" to "help" their colleague, the town councillor and deputy mayor Karl Hermann Stein. In the civilised world there is a natural obligation for a mayor and for every town councillor to make decisions in the interests of the well-being of all citizens. However, in Dahlen, there is no such natural obligation at all.

Whether with wind or water power... God's mills grind slowly but surely