Goldenbow Manor

The ruin of Goldenbow Manor House is located in the Goldenbow district of Vellahn in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The manor house is one of the few manor houses in Mecklenburg dating from the 17th century.

The old Goldenbow estate belonged to the possessions of the Lützow family and was the seat of a part of the family that remained Catholic. In the 17th century, the baroque building was erected as a two-story brick structure with lime-plastered cornices and pilasters and a granite block plinth. It is a seven-axis symmetrical complex with a baroque Dutch ornamental gable above the main entrance, to which a projecting flight of steps with a veranda leads. On a frieze below the ornamental gable, OMNIA AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM (All for the greater glory of God) was written, and above the entrance the year 63. The two gable fronts were also decorated in the Dutch style.

At the back of the house is a small park with a lake, opposite the front, remnants of a village square are visible, at the end of which a water tower with a clock stands in the symmetry axis of the manor house.

The house was built on the vaulted cellar of a predecessor building. Around 1990, the staircase in the middle of the building and a ballroom with sandstone fireplaces on the upper floor were still preserved from the time of its construction. Although dilapidated at the time, the building, which was largely preserved in its substance, was severely damaged by the collapse of the roof and seemed to be left to decay for a while. At that time, only outer walls and brick fireplaces remained. Inside, decorated lintels and other building components can still be seen. The house has been back in private ownership since 2008, with the aim of reconstruction. Meanwhile, work on the manor house has progressed to the point where it can be described as being in a shell state.

The Goldenbow estate included the neighboring Rodenwalde estate and the Albertinenhof outwork as appurtenances. Due to the agrarian reforms at the end of the 18th century, the Lützows had to sell the estate. It eventually came into the possession of the von Schilden family. In 1852, the estate fell by inheritance to the Chief Court Marshal Jasper von Bülow (1794-1871). Von Bülow had the manor house renovated and adapted it to the spirit of the times by having an ornamental gable installed. His descendants Alexander von Bülow and his son Henning probably also lived in this manor house. Henning von Bülow built up an extensive library there, which, however, was largely lost in 1945 when the Bülows were forcibly expropriated and expelled by the communists.

After the Second World War, the Goldenbow estate became an LPG (agricultural production cooperative), and the manor house served as a residential building and was divided for several families. It has been vacant since about 1980.