Karlsburg Manor

The origins of the estate date back to the 16th century when the village of Gereby came into the possession of the Rantzau family in 1539. Under Cai Rantzau, the village was largely demolished to make way for a large farmstead with a castle-like manor house. After only two generations, the estate passed to the Ahlefeld family in 1586 and later to the Rathlow family, who owned it until 1671. During this period, the property was plundered during the Thirty Years' War and the Polish War. From 1671 to 1785, the von Brömbsen family owned it, during whose era a new manor house and a baroque garden were created around 1720. At the end of the 18th century, Karl von Hessen-Kassel took over the estate and abolished serfdom in 1790. In 1826, it was renamed Carlsburg, and the manor house was rebuilt in the same decade. From then on, it primarily served as accommodation for tenants and foresters.