Hof Trages, Baroque manor complex in Freigericht, Germany

Hof Trages is a manor complex in Freigericht, Hesse, at the foot of the Altenmarkskopf (269 m), 2.5 km southwest of Somborn and 2.3 km west of Albstadt. Its neo-Baroque schloss was built mainly in the second half of the 19th century, with construction continuing until 1928. The estate is a cultural heritage monument and still serves as the residence of the von Savigny family; part of the grounds is now a golf course and restaurant.

The site began as a small clearing settlement founded probably in the 9th century by a man named Drago; from the 13th century documents mention two farms here. The settlement was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War and the present farm was then rebuilt. From 1727 it was held as a fief by Chancellor von Cranz, and in 1787 it passed by inheritance to the von Savigny family.

Around 1800 Hof Trages became a meeting place for figures of German Romanticism: Friedrich Carl von Savigny, who inherited it, his wife Kunigunde Brentano, her brother Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim. Clemens Brentano wrote the fairy tale Gockel, Hinkel und Gackeleia here in the 1830s, published in 1838; its opening names the wild forest between Gelnhausen and Hanau.

The grounds are well connected by numerous hiking trails that link to the historic Birkenhainer Straße route. Visitors should plan adequate time to explore the outdoor areas, especially if interested in the surrounding woodland walks.

The chapel that holds the Savigny family crypt was built in 1866, and Friedrich Carl von Savigny's coffin was moved there in 1875 from the Hedwigskathedrale in Berlin, where he had been buried after his death in 1861. A Spessart legend, "Der Reiter auf dem Hof Trages", tells of an owner who vowed to build a chapel, forgot the vow and had to ride around the site at night until a descendant fulfilled it.