Wesselstorf Manor

The construction and current appearance presumably date from the second half of the 19th century. It is to be assumed that there was a much earlier predecessor building. From 1460 onwards, we find descriptions of the estate and its respective ownership in the archives, which - more often the rule than the exception - changed frequently over the centuries through sale and inheritance. Unusually enough, from 1460 until the beginning of the 18th century - interrupted only by a brief Swedish interregnum during the Thirty Years' War - we find the von Moltke family (also von Moltken) residing at Gut Wesselstorf. Thereafter, the Wesselstorf knighthood, besides some short-term interim owners, was in the hands of the von Bassewitz, von Grävenitz, and again von Bassewitz families, who then resided here until the end of the Second World War. After that, Wesselstorf suffered the fate typical for all estates since 1945: forced expropriation and expulsion of the owners by the communists, quartering of refugees and decay, later conversion for the purpose of use for rental apartments and public facilities such as a cooperative store, kindergarten, event room, offices, etc. This was accompanied by a usually not particularly careful handling of the historic building fabric, which in Wesselstorf led to the fact that the external appearance only hints at its former splendor. The associated garden and park deteriorated over the years, valuable old trees were put to economic use, the immediate surroundings of the house were characterized by the self-sufficiency economy typical in rural GDR by means of allotments. The estate, which remained largely intact until the fall of the Berlin Wall, was then further altered in the nineties by the demolition of almost all historical farm buildings; today, apart from the manor house, only the stable for riding and carriage horses standing directly next to it and the coach house adjoining at right angles remain. Since 1998, the manor house, the remaining farm buildings, and significant parts of the park have been back in private ownership. The house now contains several well-equipped holiday apartments.