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Founded: 16th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Reformation & Wars of Religion (Germany)
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Finsterwalde Castle is a Renaissance complex in Brandenburg, Germany, consisting of two main parts: the Front Castle and the Rear Castle, each with a courtyard. The Rear Castle, a uniform four-winged structure with sandstone-framed windows, retains a Renaissance appearance. The Front Castle is made up of buildings from various periods, from the Renaissance to the early 20th century. A bridge and tower with a pyramid roof connect the two sections. Parts of the Rear Castle still contain elements of a medieval fortress.
The first recorded lord of the castle was Heinemanus of Finsterwalde in 1282. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it was reportedly used by a robber knight named von Gorenzen. From the 15th century to 1625, noble families including von Maltitz, von Minckwitz, and von Dieskau owned the property. Major renovations, especially under the von Dieskau family from 1533, gave the castle much of its current form.
In the 19th century, the Front Castle housed textile factories, while the Rear Castle was a residence. Since 1885, the Front Castle has served as Finsterwalde's town hall. The city acquired the Rear Castle in 1919, and a fire station (now a museum) was built on part of the grounds in 1925.
Today, the castle's courtyards and park are open to visitors, and parts of the interior can be viewed during city hall opening hours.
References:Radimlja is a stećak (monumental medieval tombstones, that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina) necropolis located near Stolac. The necropolis is one of the most valuable monuments of the mediaeval period in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The majority of its stećak tombstones date from the 1480s through the 16th century, as evidenced by the epitaph on one of the tombstones. This was the period when the family Miloradović-Stjepanović from genus Hrabren lived in the settlement located on near hill Ošanići. At the time the location was known as Batnoge, and the creation of the necropolis coincides with the rise of this noble family.
The necropolis includes 133 stećci. When the Čapljina-Stolac road was built during the Austro-Hungarian period in 1882, it ran through the necropolis and destroyed at least 15-20 tombstones.