Projensdorf Manor

The first documented mention of Projensdorf as “villam Prodenstorpe” dates back to 1378. Kiel's mayor, Johann Bisch, acquired the property and stipulated that its revenues after his death should benefit a vicarage of Kiel's St. Nikolai Church. This arrangement ended in 1497 with a change of ownership, when the estate fell to John I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, who sold it to Hans von Ahlefeldt. Shortly thereafter, Joachim von Wittorff was enfeoffed with the estate, and his son Jasper von Wittorf is named as owner in 1543. In 1597, Paul von Wittorf was the proprietor. Later, the estate passed into the possession of Anna von Rantzau, and in 1689, Friedrich von Rantzau owned Projensdorf, Knoop, and Uhlenhorst. In 1750, Heinrich Christoph von Baudissin is mentioned as the owner, followed in 1776 by his son, Heinrich Friedrich Graf von Baudissin. Joseph Graf von Baudissin managed the estate from 1824 and sold it in 1838 to the Hamburg syndic Amsinck.