Gerbstedt Manor

The Gerbstedt Manor (Steuben Manor) is a country estate in Gerbstedt.

The documented enfeoffment to the Von Steuben family dates back to the 15th century: After 1442, Bernd or his son Hartwig Steube took possession of the estate together with the peasantry of Ribbesdorf north of Gerbstedt as a fief from Counts Volker and Gebhard von Mansfeld (a documented right of expectancy existed since 1400, the exact date of the first enfeoffment is not known).

Bernd von Steuben marks the beginning of the Gerbstedt line, which ended in 1605 with the death of the last liegeman Christian Ernst von Steuben - the property passed to the Friedeburg line. In 1653, Martin Christoph von Steuben also bought Tresewitz, an outwork of the Gerbstedt monastery. Nevertheless, it was not possible to save the heavily indebted property from the impending forced sale.

On September 10, 1720, the estate was initially pledged to the Royal Prussian administration; three years later, a loan of 20,000 Thalers could no longer prevent the final loss: In 1738, Soldier King Frederick William I bought the manor with the associated lands for 42,775 Thalers from the von Steuben family, also took over the neighboring monastery court from the von Plotho family, and united both properties under the new name "Amt Gerbstedt" as the official residence for his youngest son Prince Ferdinand of Prussia.

Until 1810, the Amt Gerbstedt remained the property of the Prussian prince, then it was bought by the chief bailiff Johann Friedrich Neumann. He bequeathed the property to his son Friedrich Wilhelm von Neumann, who was ennobled as a Royal Prussian Legation Councillor. Through the marriage of his daughter, the estate later came into the possession of the Counts von der Schulenburg.

In 1945, the family was expropriated and expelled by the communists.

An inscription above the entrance bore witness to the Steubens in Gerbstedt:

"My love, my life, honor and goods, Also soul, heart, mind and courage, My faithful God keeps in custody, Therefore no harm comes to me from the enemy"

Heinrich von Steuben. Dorothea von Weddingen. 1573