Sögeln Manor

A lime tree avenue, closed to public traffic, leads to the manor house, which is surrounded by two moats fed by the Sögelner Hase. The main house, dating from the late 18th century, is a functionally simple, two-story building with three wings. It was built on the site of a castle first mentioned in documents in the 14th century. The oldest part of the existing complex is the gate tower with loopholes on the ground floor, while the baroque tower dome with the clock dates from the 18th century. The Sögeln manor house changed owners frequently over the centuries: in 1793, Friedrich Philipp von Hammerstein zu Equord acquired the estate and initiated the new construction of the main house. After he died heavily indebted and without direct heirs in 1802, the estate was acquired in 1817 by the general tax collector Rathgen. Through his stepdaughter, the property passed to the von Rappard family, whose descendants are the current owners, the von Bock und Polach family. Around 1870, the young Prussian lieutenant Paul von Hindenburg frequently visited the estate. The later Reich President was engaged to Irmengard von Rappard, who died in 1871 at only 17 years old.