Manor House Dölitz

Dölitz remained in possession of the von Lunow family from von Levezow for over 200 years, until the extinction of the von Lunow family (around 1634). Hans von Levezow died without a viable heir.

This posed the risk of the collapse of his fortune. The properties he owned, Lunow, Dölitz, and Boddin, went to Hans Friedrich von Lehsten in 1634 (owner of the Wardow estate) and briefly to Hans Zacharias von Rochow (1603 – 1654). Zacharias von Rochow was the fourth son of Wolff Dietrich I. vonRochow (1577 – 1653) and his wife Margaretha von Levetzow (from the house of Lunow).

Source: "Die Kunst- Und Geschichts-Denkmäler des Grossherzogthums Mecklenburg-Schwerin"

Hans Friedrich von Lehsten (1621 – 1678) was married to Katharina von Levetzow from the house of Lunow (died in 1646). The von Levetzow family tried several times to bring the properties back in their possession. They were successful with Lunow but not with Dölitz and Boddin.

Hans Friedrich von Lehsten was the lord of the manor in Wardow, district administrator, and court judge. Dölitz, Böddin, and some of his other properties were inherited by his oldest son, Christian Wilhelm von Lehsten. His younger brother, Georg Hinrich, inherited Wardow and Wesselstorf.

Christian Wilhelm von Lehsten (1662 – 1723) was probably the owner, who had the current manor house built around 1681. It was a half-timbered building on medieval cellars with its foundation on a predecessor building. This was followed by a reconstruction of the house around 1720 due to static problems. The façade was redesigned in Baroque style, which has largely been preserved until now.

The rest was maintained in the original design. The property remained the ancestral seat of the von Lehsten family for about 150 years. District administrator Christian Wilhelm von Lehsten was an influential man, and Dölitz was certainly one of the most elegant houses in the early 18th century. He was also a member of the Mecklenburg parliament in Ratzeburg. His son-in-law was the Danish general lieutenant, Ulrich Otto von Dewitz, who died in 1723 in Dölitz. Heinrich Ludolf Friedrich von Lehsten (1760 – 1830) and Karl Leopold Henning von Lehsten (1768 – 1839) were the last of the von Lehsten family line to be born in Dölitz.

(Source: "Neuer Nekrolog der Deutschen – 1830")

At the beginning of the 19th century, the property was acquired by Carl August von Behr-Negendank (*1791 – 1827). However, the von Behr-Negendank family never lived in the manor house. For over 130 years that followed, it was managed and severally leased out by Semlow. In 1931, they sold the property and estate was divided up. This is largely the reason why the exterior appearance of the manor house has hardly changed over the last 200 years.

During the GDR times, the house was used as a restaurant, cultural room, and for residential purposes.

The manor house was vacant from the early 1990s. Since 2014, the manor house is owned by Ahlefeldschen. The current owners live in the Rensow manor house. The plan is to maintain the manor house in its original Baroque design and room partitioning, and make it usable and accessible to the public over the next few years.

Next to the manor house is a somewhat wild but unique Baroque park with an ancient Baroque axis of almost 400 meters. Some parts of the structure are clearly recognizable. A part of an old tree stock has also been preserved.

Keywords:

• Rostock
• private property
• von Behr, Behr-Negendanck family
• von Levetzow, Levezow family
• von Lehsten family
• von Rochow family
• Gnoien Department