The old Franconian castle of Count Luckner, built in Tudor style after 1850, was located behind today's hotel complex with park. In 1939 it was abandoned for years by the descendants of the castle founder, due to its poor state of construction. Today it can only be recognized by the renovated parts of the gate system and a lion column from the neo-Gothic architectural period. Felix Nikolaus Alexander Georg Graf von Luckner (1881-1957), who left aristocratic life behind at an early age and sought adventure on the open sea, was of particular interest to Dresden society. As commander of the auxiliary cruiser "Seeadler", he broke through the British sea blockade during World War I and captured British merchant ships. Because of his willingness to take risks at sea he was called "anglerfish"; his book of the same name was published in 1921. In April 1945 he negotiated with the US armed forces to postpone the bombing of the city of Halle and convinced the German city commander to let the German armed forces withdraw without a fight. This saved Halle from further destruction.