Karlsburg Manor

Carlsburg Manor (or Karlsburg) in the municipality of Winnemark in northern Schleswig-Holstein was once the center of the noble estate of Gereby. The building, also known as Carlsburg Castle, was owned by, among others, the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and is now in private hands. It is a country manor with a ballroom, 25 apartments, several offices, and a café. In addition to four other residential buildings, there are also economic outbuildings such as a stable, barbecue house, and workshop building, as well as approximately 3,650 m² of living and usable space, a park, and a horse paddock. The property has an area of 82,454 m².

From the 16th to the 18th Century

The estate near the Schlei emerged from the village of Gereby, which came into the possession of the Rantzau family in 1539. Under the first lord of the manor, Cai Rantzau, the village was largely demolished and a large farmstead was established instead, with a castle-like, fortified manor house built as its center. The estate remained in the possession of the Rantzaus for only two generations, then it was sold to a member of the Ahlefeld family in 1586. Through inheritances or sales, the owners changed in the subsequent period; from 1598 to 1671, the estate belonged to the Rathlow family. During the Thirty Years' War and also during the so-called Polish War, the estate was plundered. From 1671 to 1785, it belonged to the von Brömbsen family. Around 1720, a new manor house was built on the estate and a large baroque garden was laid out. Towards the end of the 18th century, the estate came into the possession of Karl von Hessen-Kassel, who resided in the nearby Schleswig at Gottorf Castle as governor of Schleswig-Holstein. Under his rule, serfdom was abolished in Gereby in 1790, and the lands were parceled out and largely leased.

From the 19th Century to the Present

In 1826, the estate was renamed Carlsburg after its new owner, and the manor house was rebuilt in the same decade. During this time, it primarily served to accommodate the tenant, the forester, and other members of the remaining estate district; it was rarely used by the Landgrave's family. Through an inheritance, the manor house came into the possession of the ducal house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg during the 19th century and remained in their possession thereafter.

During the Second World War, the house accommodated bombed-out refugees from Kiel. After the war, the remaining lands were leased, and the ducal family founded a boarding school in 1949 in the not-far-distant Louisenlund Manor. Carlsburg Manor was assigned to the foundation in 1951 as a residence for the lower school grades and retained this function for several decades. The manor later passed to a therapeutic institution and served for the inpatient rehabilitation of addicts. The company went bankrupt in 2005. After a period of vacancy, the building was sold to a Danish buyer and is now in private hands. The former estate farm is still owned by the old tenant family.

The castle and park are not publicly accessible and can only be viewed to a limited extent from the outside.