Wichmannsdorf Manor House (Palace) near Kröpelin

The house was built between 1909 and 1911 by the architect Paul Korff as a widow’s residence for Sophie von Oertzen née Schröder. She died in 1930 and was buried beside her husband in Roggow-Russow.

From 1931 her only daughter Eleonore was the owner of Wichmannsdorf, which was then leased and worked by her second son Hans von Wilamowitz-Möllendorf. He lived here with his two sisters Gisela and Eleonore. The coats of arms on the triangular gable of the house are, left, those of the von Oertzen family and, right, of the Hamburg banker family Schröder. The owners were dispossessed in 1945 in the course of land reform. Afterwards a school was set up in the house and refugees also stayed there. In 1977 the property was taken over by the state-owned enterprise Ludwigsfelde and configured as community arts center, large kitchen, cooperative store, out-patient clinic, holiday resort, and training facility. After the sale to Ludwigsfelde in 1981 a bowling alley, tennis court, cellar bar, and restaurant were set up. In 1992 Ludwigsfelde went bankrupt. The community Jennewitz/Wichmannsdorf got the house back but was unable to pay for it, resulting in a lawsuit between the community and Ludwigsfelde that lasted for years and produced debts of some five million. There were always prospective buyers, but they shied away from the many quarrels and enormous debt load.

The current owner managed to acquire the house in 2002. The building was hardly visible at that time: the park had become a garbage dump, while the house itself had suffered terrible internal and external damage through years of neglect and lack of maintenance. Huge piles of trash occupied the interior, and everything had been destroyed; after an indescribable amount of vandalism not a single original fixture remained, not even a window crank. Lengthy effort returned the outer area to its former park-like appearance, while the house received a new roof, new windows and doors, and fresh plaster. After the rehab the interior was divided into six apartments that are available either as holiday flats or long-term commercial rental units. We offer you luxuriously appointed apartments with a unique atmosphere suited to lingering, relaxing, short breaks, or recharging.

Owners before 1945:

Further information: www.schloss-wichmannsdorf.de

Keywords:

• Manor House
• Rostock
• national heritage protection
• private property
• von Oertzen family
• castle
• von Bülow family
• Paul Korff
• manor
• von Schack family
• von Moltke family
• von Vieregge, Vieregg, Viereck family
• von Biel family
• von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff family
• von Gussmann family