Schloss Gracht : Disappointed.

Today I decided to make it "Schloss Samstag" instead of "Schloss Sonntag" as I hear that tomorrow it will rain, and today is party cloudy to sunny.  So why not go today, and see how tomorrow goes?  Right? 

Today's pick actually comes from a local newpaper..the Kölner Stadt Anzeige.  It had a listing of top Wasserschlösser to visit in the area..so I thought I would use this as another guide.  I give you...THEIR (not mine) number 12: Schloss Gracht.  My rating comes later...at the very bottom.  I will keep you all in suspense.

Fritz-Erler-Straße 1 50374 Erftstadt, Germany

It is located on the other side of Köln - also near Burg Satzvey towards the Eiffel Region. 

 So if you can imagine, I just fought Kölner traffic (where I believe all of the Netherlands is driving on..probably due to their school holiday starting??)...- and my heart breaks when I turned down the narrow street, and see these......closed doors.

Puh!  Doesn't that last sentence say in the newspaper...Die Burg ist auch öffentlich zugänglich.  I had a bad feeling when I checked out the website as well, but thought to just check it out anyways.  I don't know if you can ever get inside, but it does give an O.K. free Schlosspark to walk around, but other than that...nichts.

I will say though that the Schloss houses the ESMT European School of Management and Technology, so maybe that's why it was closed?  It would be kind of badass to learn there!

 
Anyways, I am not sure, but I did make a small round of the Schloss grounds, and here are those pictures...including the evil duck...you'll see.

Can you see the small drawbridge up??? Nobody visiting today!

Here's a zoomed version....

It is quite pretty, and impressive.

 

What the heck is this!!  A duck?  It was so evil, too!

Well...now for my review...dramatic pause...

..... I give this Wasserschloss a 4/10.  I know shocking!!

My feedback is that - if you are in the area, and only have a short amount of time to see some pretty amazing Schlösser...this would not be one of my recommendations.  It is one of oldest in the Rheinland, and it is quite beautiful, but the website is not very informative, the grounds are not as nicely kept as I have seen in other Schlösser, there are no tours (probably due to it being the school).  It's alright, but you can experience better!!