How to make a historic manor profitable

You are the wealthy owner of a deserted area and a small manor, which have not earned you any tenure for years. You feel deadlocked because that suburban area is formally dedicated as grassland and the tiny castle remains under preservation order as cultural heritage. So, what could you do? These pictures will give you a hint.

This is what the tiny, Baroque castle looked like about 50 years ago. If you give it a second glance you will see the humidity creeping up the walls to half their height. The door of the former manor (Tor zum ehemaligen Herrschaftshaus, picture found in the district's museum) seems to crumble as well.

Now, in 2008, you might assume efficient measures should have been taken meanwhile in order to preserve this heritage in the old village centre. This is what it looks like today.

Entrance from behind

Wall beside the main front entrance

Improvised entrance on the back side

If you can solve the riddle your conclusion might be very close to that of the Jedlesee citizens' initiative. It is not so difficult for a mighty landowner to surrender the whole estate to decay. Austrian laws for monument conservation are largely toothless. The owner's responsibility for the preservation of his property may be written down somewhere, yet he cannot be made accountable efficiently. And, in the face of progressing decline of the whole estate, Austrian and Viennese politicians in charge would rather not confront a landlord and monastery by insisting on cultural protection or grassland dedication.

The eyesore should be removed, they think. This could be done most efficiently by rededicating grassland for building land. Thus everyone involved would make profit - apart from the angry locals of course, who want to see their tiny castle and the meadow behind it preserved for themselves and their children.

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According to the monastery's spokesman the manor will not be immediately demolished to give room for new apartment blocks. It is not being renovated because its future economic utilization is unclear, still. He gave this comment in a TV-interview while avoiding any contact with the citizens' initiative as not being in compliance with the monastery's style of communication.