Storkow Castle

The origins of Storkow Castle date back to the mid-12th century, when it was probably built on the site of an earlier Slavic marsh castle, possibly under Margrave Konrad I. Its first documentary mention is found in 1209. Initially, the castle was owned by the Lords of Strehla until 1382, before passing by inheritance to the Lords of Bieberstein. In 1518, Ulrich von Bieberstein pledged the complex to the Bishop of Lebus, Dietrich von Bülow, who had it expanded into an episcopal residence. A dark chapter was written in 1538, when Stefan Meiße, a companion of Hans Kohlhase, was tortured to death here. In 1555, the last Catholic Bishop of Lebus, Johann VIII von Horneburg, died at the castle. A year later, the castle and its associated lordship fell to Margrave Johann I of Brandenburg-Küstrin and, after his death, definitively to the Electors of Brandenburg. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was severely devastated in 1627, but was later rebuilt as a small Renaissance palace. A fire in 1775 caused further damage.