Alt-Bülk Manor

The Bulker Estate, since 1718 the Alt-Bülk Estate, is a noble estate in the present-day area of the municipalities of Strande, Dänischenhagen and Schwedeneck in Dänischer Wohld, Rendsburg-Eckernförde district, federal state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Until the Division

In 1304, the noble estate of Bülk is first documented. Bülk or "Bülleke" described the entire contiguous property from Seekamp and Knoop to Dänisch-Nienhof inclusive. In 1350, the knight Ivan Reventlow is named as owner; his wife was Beke Pogwisch. The property was sold in 1353 to Wulf Pogwisch, a brother of Beke Pogwisch.

From 1414, the Rantzau family is named as owner, for example, in 1486 Otto Rantzau († 1511). He rebuilt Bülk Castle on the foundations of an old castle or house. The castle was demolished in 1796. Otto Rantzau received a crypt in the Nikolai Church in Kiel, which, however, was completely destroyed by a British bomb in 1945. Otto Rantzau was also the owner of the estates of Seekamp, Knoop, Borghorsterhütten and Schinkel.

His son Christoph Rantzau inherited these estates, in 1561 his son Hyronimus Rantzau, in 1571 Heinrich Rantzau († 1579). His property was divided among his four sons. Paul Rantzau inherited Knoop Estate, Hyronimus Rantzau Seekamp Estate, Lorentz Rantzau Bülk Estate, and the last, whose name is not recorded, inherited a farm, a townhouse, and cash.

Lorentz Rantzau was murdered in Dänischenhagen in 1602 on behalf of Claus von der Wisch (1552 - November 6, 1621), owner of the north-western estates of Kaltenhof and Dänisch-Nienhof. The murdered man's sister, Dorothea Rantzau, then resided alone at Bülk until she married Claus von Buchwald from the House of Sierhagen near Plön in 1616. In 1626, Cay von Ahlefeld from Mehlbeck, Steinburg district, acquired the Bülk Estate as well as the Knoop and Seekamp estates. In 1632, he sold all three estates to Christian IV (Denmark and Norway). The reason was the construction of the Friedrichsort fortress. After it had been razed, Claus von Buchwald reacquired the three estates. He left them to his son Wulf von Buchwald as inheritance. This led him into bankruptcy, from which Claus Christoph I von Thienen (1657 - 1708) then bought the Bülk Estate in 1687. In 1708, he established the outfarms Ravensbek (later Neu-Bülk) and Eckhof. His son Claus Christoph II von Thienen (1693 - 1752) then divided the estate into three parts:

• The Ravensbek outfarm becomes the noble estate of Neu-Bülk.
• The Eckhof outfarm becomes the noble estate of Eckhof.
• The old Bülk Estate is greatly reduced in size and from now on called Alt-Bülk.

Alt-Bülk Estate

After the death of Claus Christoph II von Thienen (1693 - 1752), the Alt-Bülk Estate passes to his son Ludwig Christian Carl von Thienen. He sells it, with a size of 9 plows, in 1757 to Christian Albrecht Liliencron (1728-1787), owner of the Wulfshagen and Hütten estates. The Alt-Bülk Estate's farm is so dilapidated that Liliencron remains living in Wulfshagen. Upon his death, the heirs take what is left and sell the estate in 1795 to the chamberlain Jens Peter Bruun Neergard (1764-1848). He demolished the old buildings and had new farm buildings rebuilt one and a half kilometers further northwest from the demolition material. In 1828, Bruun Neergard goes bankrupt.

Rodde

In 1828, the estate came into the possession of Carl August Rodde (June 16, 1798 - February 2, 1873) from Westphalia for 84,200 Reichsthaler. In 1833, he built the manor house that still stands today. In 1870, his son Carl August Rodde (December 25, 1845 - March 17, 1916) took over the "manorial and police affairs in the noble estates of Alt-Bülk and Neu-Bülk". He was followed at Alt-Bülk Estate by his son Albrecht Rodde (November 8, 1874 - December 24, 1952), whose son was Hans-Helmut Rodde (April 12, 1905 - November 27, 1988).