Großenhof Manor

The manor house Großenhof is a half-timbered estate house built around 1660 on the remains of a former moated castle in the Großenhof district of the municipality of Warnow in the Nordwestmecklenburg district (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern).

In the 14th century, the knight Johannes Storm had the moated castle Großenhof built. In 1445, Helmold von Plesse zu Arpshagen acquired Großenhof from Heinrich Kulebuß. In 1455, his brother, the knight Bernd von Plesse, took over the castle. The next owners from the Plesse(n) family were Kord, Wipert, Reimar, Stellanus, Christoph and Kuno. Until 1618, Großenhof Castle belonged to the Mecklenburg Privy Councillor, Chancellery Director and episcopal governor in Bützow, Volrad von Plesse; he was followed by his brother Henneke and his son Kuno. During the lordship of Kuno von Plesse, the half-timbered manor house was built in 1660 on the remains of the former castle complex, which was rebuilt several times over time. Kuno's son Kord Joachim was lord of the manor at Großenhof until 1724.

The Großenhof estate, along with Damshagen, was one of the ancestral seats of the formerly widespread von Plesse(n) family in the Klützer Winkel (in Mecklenburg, the name form Plesse was replaced by Plessen in the 17th and 18th centuries).

In 1896, Christian Carl Friedrich and Andreas Friedrich Carl Schröder became owners of the manor house. In 1945, the owners were expropriated and expelled by the communists. Thereafter, the historic half-timbered house initially served as a youth hostel. In the 2000s, the building came into private ownership. The half-timbered house was authentically renovated by its current owner using only the old stones and today presents itself as an ensemble, with a partially preserved medieval moat and castle wall, as well as an extension in brick (on the east gable).