C O V E R
S T O R Y
The
Schlenstedts –
dedicated to
their shared
project
The Schlenstedts’ switch to sawing
timber themselves also gives the
owners more flexibility, improved
quality of timbers and a valuable
opportunity to branch out into retail
timber as well as other independent
sources of income.
Sylko Schlenstedt, 50 and his
family own the estate in Saxony near
the village of Hohenölsen-Kleindraxdorf. The small village which has
630 inhabitants, was founded
alongside a silvermine 650 years ago.
The estate had belonged to an
aristocratic family called von Reuß
ältere Linie. After WWII and until the fall
of the Berlin wall in 1989 it was one of
the communist regime's farm cooperatives, where Sylko Schlenstedt's
parents worked. As a child and unaware
of the politics, Sylko played in the
dungeons, cellars and haystacks,
regarding it as something of an
adventure playground. In 1998, the
now run-down estate was put up for
sale and he and his wife, made the lifealtering decision to buy it.
The couple, after struggling hard to
put together the finance, succeeded
with the purchase. However, after the
euphoria it dawned on them that it
would take twenty years at least to put
the place right – and there wouldn't be
any free time.
Amused but not bemused, their two
sons joined in whilst noting that the
Chinese proverb: The road is the aim
had taken on a new meaning. They
were all aware that the estate was too
14
WOOD-MIZER TODAY SPRING 2011
big even for the ever expanding family.
The roofs alone cover 1000 cubic
metres.
However, they grew into it. They
needed space for family, friends and
also a bikers' club called The Dark
Forces, founded in 1992 by Sylko, a
Harley-Davidson enthusiast. In fact, five
families live on the estate, working on
repairs to the historic, mostly 19thcentury buildings. Sylko works as a truck
driver from 7am to 7pm whilst planning
work at home on the estate. Robert and
Bastian, his sons are both metal workers
at small companies in the area.
After work everybody including
women – far from watching television –
build brick walls, saw timber and tackle
other tasks on the estate until late. At
first it was difficult, repairing the roofs
and generally tidying-up. It took months
to scratch layers of whitewash from the
vaulted roofs. Fortunately, volunteers
came and worked for a few weeks, some
for months.
Members of the motorcycle club
saved the boards and beams of an
ancient, derelict wooden bridge which
was dismantled and reborn as a timber
veranda in the main courtyard. In
summer they sit there, talking Harleys!
The estate timbers presented an
inte-resting problem as standard
dimensions proved inappropriate for
restoration of these ancient buildings. It
led to undue expense and inflexibility in
buying in custom cut timbers. Often
during particular restorations, just a
couple of boards were needed and work