Lanke Castle

1315 to 1826/27

Lanke was first mentioned in a Latin document dated December 24, 1315. Around 1415, Lanke came into the possession of Biesenthal Castle and thus fell to the old Marchian noble family von Arnim. In 1620, the property was sold to Friedrich von Götze. During the Thirty Years' War, the settlement was almost completely burned down. It was not until Field Marshal Otto Christoph von Sparr zu Prenden bought the abandoned farms of Lanke from Electress Luise Henriette in 1654, following the Thirty Years' War, and combined them into an outpost. After his death in 1668, the property came into the ownership of the von Happe families - who built the first permanent knight's seat with stately buildings. Subsequent owners were the von Holwede families in 1763/64 and von Wülknitz (1783). Major Hans Heinrich Otto von Wülknitz established a perpetual family fideicommiss in Lanke. His only son, Heinrich Otto von Wülknitz, decided to sell the Lanke estate in 1826.

1826/27 to 1932

In 1826/27, a leading member of the comital family von Redern, the theater director of the Royal Stages of Berlin, Chamberlain Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Redern, acquired the Lanke estate with the villages of Prenden, Ützdorf, Werder, Sophienstädt, and Neudörfchen. Count Redern was one of the most important personalities in Berlin's intellectual life. With approximately 4,500 hectares of land, Lanke was the largest of the 45 Redern possessions and became the Count's favorite residence after Berlin.

The estate and castle were leased several times by the von Redern family. The last tenant was the Privy Councillor of Commerce Fritz von Friedlaender-Fuld since 1894. In 1914, the great-grandson of Count von Redern sold the entire property of the castle, estate, surrounding park, arable land, and forests for 20 million Reichsmarks to the city of Berlin, which integrated it, among other things, into its concept of local recreation for city dwellers. Friedlaender-Fuld remained the tenant. He waived his right of first refusal but had the right of residence and the lease agreement guaranteed for 25 years by the Berlin City Council. Fritz von Friedländer-Fuld lived in Lanke Castle until his death in 1917. After that, it was only inhabited by the family during the summer months until 1932. In March 1920, his daughter Marie-Anna married the Frankfurt banker Rudolph de Goldschmidt-Rothschild at Lanke Castle.

1932 to 2006

During the 1930s and 1940s, Lanke Castle had a checkered history. In 1939, the Reich Labor Service was housed in its rooms, from June 1945 a military hospital, and in the same year, a Soviet commandant's office. In 1947, the conversion into a hospital was decided. Lanke, which until then was under the administration of the Berliner Stadtgüter GmbH as the Lanke Estate Administration, became the Lanke People's Estate in 1949. Lanke Castle was renamed Gertrud Seele Hospital on January 12, 1951 – in memory of the nurse of the same name. From 1966 to 1968, the castle stood empty, and since then, it was used as an outpatient clinic of the Eberswalde District Hospital until the 1990s.

After the nursing home moved out in the late 1990s, the buildings stood empty for several years. In 2005, the State of Berlin leased the castle ensemble to the Temporär e.V. association for interim use, which organized cultural events there in the summer but did not develop any activities for the preservation of the buildings or the park.

Renovation, Development, and Future Use

The castle was finally sold by the State of Berlin and has been back in private ownership since 2006. Since then, it has been renovated in accordance with monument protection regulations. In addition to the owners' living areas, a salon for cultural events and several holiday apartments are to be created.

In the park, against the backdrop of the castle, individual events have already taken place with the support of the new owners, such as photo and film shoots or a benefit jazz concert in the summer of 2009, which raised funds for the restoration of the chapel of the Lanke cemetery. Further such events are planned.

A date for the completion of the renovation work has not been set; investments are being made gradually and taking into account aspects of monument preservation. The private commitment to the renovation of Lanke Castle ensures both the preservation of the listed complex and contact with the residents of Lanke and their guests.