Manor House Cramon

In the 19th century, this family lived on the Groß Welzin estate west of Schwerin. The old Cramon estate experienced a frequent change of ownership during the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of the owners included the von Oertzen, von Pentz, von der Lühe, and von Hund families. Later, the Lords von Drieberg acquired possession of the entire estate and held it until the end of the 18th century. The present day Drieberg village and Hof Drieberg have are a corresponding name reference of this noble family. After the von Drieberg family, the property was then owned by the knightly family von Bassewitz from 1781 until it was acquired by the merchant family von Böhl from Hamburg. Johann Friedrich von Böhl on Cramon was erected to the aristocracy by Emperor Franz von Austria in 1818. In 1862, the von Böhl family was adopted to the Mecklenburg knighthood. They remained in possession of Cramon until 1930 before it was inherited by the von Blücher family.

The Cramon manor house is an exceptional building characterized by the so-called Hamburg classicism. It is presumed that the Böhl family also owned a similar building on Hamburg’s Elbchaussee before they commissioned the Danish architect, Christian Friedrich Hansen, to redesign the Cramon manor house. Hansen built important buildings in Denmark and northern Germany. The Cramon manor house has a portico column at the entrance. Unfortunately, the façade was greatly simplified during the GDR times.

After 1945, the building, which is situated right next to Lake Cramon, housed a children’s home. After 1990, it remained empty for a long time. It is currently being refurbished. During the GDR times, a famous holiday camp would be held in the estate park, which extends along Lake Cramon and is still rich in beech trees and several exotic species. The camp area, which had many bungalows, was levelled in the mid-1990s and has been parceled for private homes in recent years. Unfortunately, this also marks the loss of the character of the estate park. Cramon is located in the middle of the so-called Cramon lake district, which is traversed by Stepenitz.

The parish church, a brick building with a cemetery, vicarage, and garden has been listed under national heritage protection. The cemetery contains a von Bohl funeral chapel and an open soldiers’ grave of Heinz von Böhl and von Klass.

North of the village is a charming tree avenue leading to Cramonshagen, which was also Nienmark a part of the Cramon castle complex.

Structure of ownership pre 1945:

Keywords:

• Manor House
• Nordwestmecklenburg
• national heritage protection
• von Blücher family
• von Oertzen family
• village church / chapel
• von Pentz family
• von der Lühe family
• von Bassewitz family
• von Cramon family
• von Hund family
• von Drieberg family
• von Böhl family
• Christian Frederic Hansen
• Lützow-Lübstorf Department