Demmin Manor

As early as the 8th century, a Slavic burgwall (fortified settlement) was located at the mouth of the Tollense into the Peene. It was first mentioned in 1127 as "Alte Burg" (Old Castle). In 1128, it was designated as an overnight stop for Bishop Otto of Bamberg on his missionary journey, where he also met with Duke Wartislaw I of Pomerania. In the 12th century, the castle was further expanded. It was documented in 1170 as Feste Demmin (castrum Dimin). The core building, constructed in the style of a round keep made of brick, was dated to around 1200 in a building history assessment, making it the oldest secular building in Pomerania. The Dukes of Pomerania-Demmin resided here until the death of Wartislaw III in 1264.

In the main division of the Duchy of Pomerania in 1295, Haus Demmin came to Pomerania-Stettin, but the city of Demmin went to Pomerania-Wolgast. Haus Demmin was the center of a ducal vogtei (bailiwick) until the end of the 15th century and served as the seat for the vogts (bailiffs). It was also an important customs post at the confluence of the Peene and Tollense rivers, just before the state border with Mecklenburg.

The ducal councilor Peter Podewils initially received Haus Demmin from Duke Bogislaw X as a pledge, then in 1512 as a fief. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was fought over by Swedish and imperial troops until it burned down in 1631, with the exception of the tower. This tower was blown up in 1648 by the later famous Swedish fortress builder Erik Dahlberg, then still Erik Jönson. The Podewils had already moved their residence to the neighboring Sanzkow. Later, a branch of the family returned to the adjacent village of Vorwerk. The area of the burgwall remained uninhabited until the mid-19th century.

A renovation of the castle ruin to preserve the existing building fabric was prepared in 2007. The result is strongly criticized from a monument preservation perspective.

In 1840, the Podewils family had a manor house built in the late Classicist style, modeled after French Baroque châteaux. In 1881, it passed into the possession of the von Rohr family, until they were dispossessed and expelled by the communists in 1945. From 1948 to 1986, the complex served as a boarding school and school.

In 1991, the house was returned to the von Rohr family. In 1998, the building burned down to its foundations. After the reconstruction of the bridge over the Tollense and the securing of the ruin, the property returned to the possession of the Hanseatic city of Demmin. In 2006, a concept for its use as an administrative seat for a planned Peenetal Foundation National Park was presented as a diploma thesis. Currently, the property is being transformed into a public park.

The manor house was a plastered building of three and a half stories with two-story side wings. The walls are adorned with plastered grooves. Above the preserved window openings of the upper floors are straight or shallow-arched pediments. The roofs were concealed by attics. A balcony on high pillars in front of the third upper floor is preserved in remnants. One room contained painted pictorial wallpapers depicting the Podewils' Crangen Castle and the new manor house.

Birthplace of

• Hansjoachim von Rohr (1888–1971), German politician (DNVP)