A work of art with symbolic character. The gatekeeper as the central figure.

It’s hard to miss: even from a distance, you can see and recognize a gigantic, proud and mighty knight over six metres tall next to the terrace of the Hotel Sonnenhof. Handcrafted, forged and riveted from metal, he watches over the property with Argus eyes and a large flag in his hands, looking out over Kressbronn and the blue lake.

Robert Manhardt noticed this handcrafted miniature knight on a trip to beautiful Bunzlau in Poland. “I saw this sprightly boy standing in front of the entrance to a magnificent Art Nouveau villa. With a helmet on his head and a flag in his hand, the central element of which was a sun. It was immediately clear to me that my Sonnenhof needed a gatekeeper like this, a symbolic figure that would be unique on the lake and a visible symbol of the complex. The whole thing just one size bigger,” says the investor and owner.

No sooner said than done: Robert Manhardt visited the knight’s creator in his small artist’s workshop in the wild mountains between Poland and the Czech Republic and was immediately impressed. “I commissioned the figure, but I had to make sure that it could withstand the high wind load on the viewing platform next to the terrace. After all, at over six meters tall, it forms an enormous attack surface,” explains Robert Manhardt.

But what’s the story behind the flag and the symbolic sun in it? “My scaffolder told me that this very flag was owned by the first Christian king of Jerusalem. Throughout his life, he endeavored to establish religious peace between Muslims, Christians and Jews. This flag can therefore also be seen as an ecumenical symbol. It symbolizes the idea of peaceful coexistence. Our Sonnenhof Knight thus stands for strength, justice, life and peace, regardless of denomination.

A short time later, after the knight had found its place at the Sonnenhof, the city’s technical committee dealt with the giant. The responsible building authority subsequently requested a building permit for the Sonnenhof knight and the stone wall around the new hotel. Because initially only a small path to the hotel terrace was planned and now an access road for the fire department had to be built, these walls turned out to be thicker than originally planned.

Since then, the knight has found (his) home – right at the top of Kressbronn on the Sonnenhof. There he also fulfills his task: as a symbol of peace, he guards the estate and the people there.