Photo Bad Berka 1912 (Pk Gel Sanatorium Castle Gutenberg & Patient Spitzing

You are bidding on a nice one photo out of Bad Berka from 1912.

the proofreaderGeorg Spitzing (1882-1917) from Berlin on a meadow; in the background that built in 1911 and opened in April 1912 Convalescent home Schloss Gutenberg (later name: Rodberg Castle).

Used as a postcard; written by Georg Spitzing, who was staying at Gutenberg Castle at the time.

addressed tohis aunt Selma Brunsen (1871-1921) in Berlin, Ackerstraße 10.

Dated Bad Berka, 30. Aug 1912.

Transcription:"Dear Aunt Selma! Warmest greetings to you, Martha and Walter from the beautiful Thuringian Forest, where I have been roaming since the beginning of August. The front building is Schloss Gutenberg, where I am currently staying. Your nephew George."

About the writer: the proofreadergeorge Franz Heinrich Spitzing was born on 30. March 1882 in Berlin as the son of the mechanic Franz Gotthold Spitzing and Margarete Agnes Emma, ​​b. Lietze was born and died at the age of 35 on 18. October 1917 in Berlin at the corner of Müllerstrasse and Seestrasse (since the exact address is not given in the death entry, he probably died on the street). -- On 20. On September 19, 1913, he married the support Berta Therese Martha Dickow, b. at the 14th. October 1884 in Berlin as the daughter of the master carpenter Ludwig Emil Ferdinand Dickow and Emilie Therese, b. Eckhardt.

About the recipient: Selma Elise Emma Gertrud Brunsen, b. Lietze was born on the 9th November 1871 in Berlin as the daughter of the master shoemaker Karl Heinrich Lietze and Johanna Friederike, b. Ziegler was born and died on 23. November 1921 in Berlin (ie at the age of 50). on the 8th In October 1892 she married the typesetter and later auditor in BerlinFrederick Wilhelm Brunsen, b. at the 14th. July 1862 in Bremen as the son of Küpers Karl Eduard Louis Brunsen and Friederike Wilhelmine Charlotte, b. Becker, died on April 4. January 1911 in Berlin.

Her son Walter Friedrich Brunsen (also spelled: Brunssen), b. on 26. May 1899 in Berlin, died at the age of 19 on 4. November 1918 in Bouvigniers (France) as a gunner in the foot artillery regiment no. 11, 5 Battery.

Format: 8.7 x 13.7 cm.

Condition: Map more stained, with creases. BPlease note also the pictures!

Internal note: HU 2023-05 in folder orange Thuringia

About the castle (source: wikipedia):
Rodberg Castle refers to a former sanatorium in Bad Berka. It is located on Tannrodaer Straße in a wooded area on the Ilm. The original building was built on the Harth in 1885. After its demolition in 1929, the name passed to today's house, which was built in 1911 as Gutenberg Castle was built. The sanatorium has been empty since 2000 and is falling into disrepair.

History: With the introduction of statutory health insurance in 1883, many workers who were looking for relaxation or wanted to take a cure came to Bad Berka. This is how the privately run Schloss Rodberg auf der Harth convalescent home developed in 1885. It was in the immediate vicinity of the Sophienhöhe, a tourist restaurant built in 1860. At that time, Rodberg Castle consisted of two buildings, the conversation house, in which the cures were carried out, and the lodging house for overnight stays. A room cost between 5 and 18 marks.

Sleeping places in the forest: The founder and owner Mr. Petzold worked with the doctor Dr. Ernst Willrich to turn his house into a pulmonary sanatorium. The so-called “forest dormitory” was built in 1887/88 to treat tuberculosis. There were 14 huts open on three sides, in which patients could sometimes lie overnight for air therapy. These were demolished again in 1897 and instead the Sophienheilstätte was founded outside the city with its own resting halls. Two years later Rodberg Castle burned down and was immediately rebuilt.

From 1908 the Berliner Buchdruckerkrankenkasse rented the Villa Alice to enable its members to stay in Berka. Due to increasing demand, the construction of another convalescent home was started in 1911 below the existing building. In reference to the inventor of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg, this was initially called Schloss Gutenberg. At the same time, the Sophienhöhe and Rodberg Castle guest houses above were also taken over. In the same year the city received the title "Bad" and on 14. The topping-out ceremony was held in October. In April 1912, the four-storey house, which has a central projection and two corner towers, was opened.

The LVA Sachsen-Anhalt bought the area after the First World War and accommodated invalids there. Due to the dilapidated building structure, the Sophienhöhe and Rodberg Castle were demolished in 1929. The name of the latter now passed to Gutenberg Castle. During the Second World War, a military hospital was set up in the building. In 1945 it was added to the Sophienheilanstalt as Department Heilstätte III. With 50 beds, Rodberg Castle became the retraining department of the Bad Berka Central Clinic in 1955. From 1974 the house was then a dormitory for students of the medical school and employees of the central clinic. After the technical school closed in 1992, the building was initially empty. In 1996 it was sold privately and rented out. After Rodberg Castle was listed as a monument in 1999, the last tenants moved out in 2000.

Decay and vandalism led to a fire in April 2015. Shortly thereafter, there are said to have been sales negotiations between the owner and a citizens' initiative. At the beginning of 2021, Rodberg Castle is still deserted.