Quarnbek Manor

The noble estate of Quarnbek was first mentioned in 1282. The oldest known owner was a knight named Schak Rantzau. The manor house was built in the 16th century as a moated castle. It was first depicted on the Rantzau Panel, a family tree commissioned by Heinrich Rantzau around 1587. In 1671, Hans Henrich von Kielmansegg had the gatehouse built with a visual axis towards the moated castle. He intensified agriculture and, with religious refugees from the Netherlands, operated the dairies Dorotheenhof and Mettenhof, known as "Holländereien" (Dutch farms). In 1733, Desmercières bought the estate and later bequeathed it to his half-sister. The moated castle was demolished at the end of the 18th century. The manor house, built in 1903, is privately owned and not accessible to the public.