German film producer Ulrich Felsberg has listed his meticulously restored Neo-Baroque mansion in Remagen, Germany, for €21 million (AUD$36 million).
According to Mansion Global, Mr Felsberg, whose producing credits include Bend It Like Beckham, The Wind That Shakes the Barley and the documentary Buena Vista Social Club, purchased the property in 2006 and began extensive restoration work the following year.
The 10-bedroom manor sits on approximately 46 acres on the left bank of the Rhine.
It was originally built between 1906 and 1908 as a summer residence for an industrialist family from Cologne.
The home was designed by architect Ernst Eberhard von Ihne, whose other works include the Prussian Royal Library (now the Berlin State Library) and Berlin’s Bode Museum.
He created a French-style design with a rectangular main layout flanked by two wings.
The property features typical Baroque details, including symmetrical facades, columns, elaborate cornicing and large rooms with high ceilings.
Original landscaping was designed by Albert Brodersen, who served as Berlin’s garden director from 1910 to 1924.
He created a three-tiered garden on grounds that slope toward the Rhine, with a covered open space at the centre of the home overlooking the river.
The manor has had a varied history.
It served as official quarters for French diplomats, then housed American occupying forces after World War I until 1919. In the 1930s, it was converted into a high-end hotel and restaurant.
From 1949, the mansion served first as the residence of the French high commissioner and later as a residence for French ambassadors, owing to its proximity to Bonn, the former capital of West Germany.
After German reunification and the government’s relocation to Berlin, the estate remained under French ownership until Felsberg’s purchase.
The listing is being handled by Cologne Sotheby’s International Realty.
