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Castle Kaarz in calendar 2022

Castle Kaarz in calendar 2022

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Kölzow manor house in calendar 2021

Kölzow manor house in calendar 2021

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Manor House (Castle) and Estate Tenant´s House Kalkhorst

Kalkhorst was a feudal estate which was in possession of the Both family at least from 1325 to 1847. In 1848 Wilhelm von Biel purchased the run-down estate and began to rebuild it.




In 1853 the laying of the foundation stone for the manor house was carried out by his son Baron Thomson von Biel who had been owner of the estate since 1852. The concept for the design of the entire building ensemble was undertaken by the master builder Conrad Wilhelm Hase and the horticultural inspector Christian Schaumburg from Hanover, while the work was carried out by the architect Schweiger.This is how the neo-Gothic building "Schloss Kalkhorst" was erected. The interior decoration began in 1866, in which the Schwerin building officer Theodor Krüger played a significant part. It was not until 1874 that all work on the manor house was completed.

At the end of the 1920s, the estate which was then owned by Röttger von Biel ran into economic difficulties and a high debt burden lay on the estate. When he died under tragic circumstances in 1930, the property went into receivership and was auctioned off in 1931. The new squire was Arthur Vidal auf Clausdorf. With the seizure of power by the National Socialists in 1933, Kalkhorst became a support base of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party).

At that time Arthur Vidal's health was not at its best therefore the house and the estate were once again auctioned off. The best bid was accepted which came from a foundation, the F.V.S. (Freiherr vom Stein), founded in 1932 by the Hamburg merchant Alfred C. Toepfer. The aim of the foundation was to promote German national tradition which was sure to bring about a certain proximity to the rulers and was in the interests of the National Socialists. After modifications under the direction of the Nuremberg architect Hans Münnichshöfer the Reichsführerschule (a sort of indoctrination centre of the NSDAP belonging to the Reich Security Head Office) moved into the manor house which was now named "Freiherrr-vom-Stein-Haus" in 1935. In the summer camps of the Hitler Youth and the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel, Association of German girls), the young people were put on a National Socialist course.But the Thousand Year Reich did not survive the next 10 years and after the end of WWII and during the time of the GDR the manor house did mainly serve as nursing home and health resort for people suffering from lung diseases as well as for people with mental illnesses.

In the dining room of the manor house wall paintings and banners were discovered in 1995, during renovation work.

In 1999 Manfred Rohde acquired the manor house and park, he had extensive repair work carried out. An apartment was built on the 2nd floor, the former seminar and training rooms on the ground floor are now used by a tax consultancy company, other rooms serve as accommodation for holiday guests.

The manor house regularly hosts concerts, lectures, weddings, and exhibitions.

In 2015 Jacobus Koopmann purchased the manor house.

The ensemble of buildings is surrounded by a spacious landscape park with many dendrological specifics. The park was laid out during the 19th century in co-operation with the master in horticulture Christian Schaumburg. Located in the park is a chapel which holds an ancestral tomb of the von Biel family.

In the village extant is the farm house which used to be home to the respective tenants who rented the estate.


Structure of ownership prior to 1945:

at least 1314 - 1848

von Both

1848 - 1932

Barons von Biel
1848 Wilhelm von Biel on Zierow (Father)
1852 Thomson von Biel (Son)

1932 - 1934

Arthur Vidal on Clausdorf

1934 - 1935

Foundation F.V.S. (Freiherr vom Stein) of the Hamburg Merchant Alfred C. Toepfer

 

1935 - 1945 Reichsführerschule des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes (Reich Security Head Office)


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