Kranzbach Castle near Klais Bavaria Germany near the Austrian Tyrol border.
Built in 1913 and inspired by the arts and craft movement, this castle was supposed to be the residence of the English Lady Mary Porter. She had commissioned the castle while studying in Leipzig. Due to WWI she never saw her finalized castle. At this time, Mary Portman was studying music in Leipzig, Germany, practicing with her own Stradivari violin.
Detmar Blow and Ferdinand Billerey, two well-known English architects who felt inspired by the English "Arts and Crafts" movement, provided the drawings for the Kranzbach manor. It is the only building of this kind in Germany.
Built in 1913 and inspired by the arts and craft movement, this castle was supposed to be the residence of the English Lady Mary Porter. She had commissioned the castle while studying in Leipzig. Due to WWI she never saw her finalized castle. At this time, Mary Portman was studying music in Leipzig, Germany, practicing with her own Stradivari violin.
Detmar Blow and Ferdinand Billerey, two well-known English architects who felt inspired by the English "Arts and Crafts" movement, provided the drawings for the Kranzbach manor. It is the only building of this kind in Germany.
Soon called the "English Castle" by the local people, the property's typical gables - looking like stairways - remind one of Scottish or Irish country houses built of natural stone. A private concert hall and a grass surface tennis court were Mary Portman's special request. But all of her personal plans to construct a congenial place for herself and her culturally sophisticated friends were destroyed by the outbreak of World War I.
In 1929, a team from the film studios "Deutsche Universal Film", arrived. Director Wilhelm Dieterle used the Kranzbach scenery for his movie "Das Schweigen im Walde", based on the famous novel by Ludwig Ganghofer.
Today the castle serves as a hotel. Since it is located less than a kilometer away from Elmau Palace, the site of the 41st G7 Summit in Juni 2015.
Source text: www.daskranzbach.de
Photos: Elisabeth Fazel.
