Meseberg Castle

The Baroque palace Schloss Meseberg in Brandenburg is the guesthouse of the German Federal Government. It is located 70 kilometers north of Berlin in Meseberg, a district of the town Gransee with 150 inhabitants. The grounds are situated directly southeast of Lake Huwenowsee.

After the old manor house in Meseberg burned down in March 1721, Count Hermann von Wartensleben had the current palace built starting in 1736. His wife Dorothea, née von der Groeben, brought the estate into the family with their marriage in 1723; the knight's estate had been owned by the von der Groebens since the second half of the 16th century.

According to Bernhard Ludwig Bekmann, the garden was laid out in Meseberg in 1736 and the house construction began in 1737. The construction was completed in 1739. The architect is not known by name but is presumed to be in the circle of Berlin's chief building director Philipp Gerlach. The designer of the terraced Baroque garden was named Münther.

Hermann von Wartensleben had already had Schloss Rauschendorf built as his residence shortly after his marriage. His brother Friedrich Ludwig had begun the construction of Palais Wartensleben on Pariser Platz in Berlin in 1735, following a royal decree.

Ten years after Wartensleben's death, the estate, along with another complex of properties, was acquired in 1774 by Prince Henry of Prussia, who resided in Rheinsberg, and was gifted the following year to his favorite, Christian Ludwig von Kaphengst (1740–1800). The purpose of this generous gift was Kaphengst's removal from the Rheinsberg court, ordered by the Prince's brother. Kaphengst had the existing complex expanded with additional buildings, including the stables. He led an extravagant lifestyle in Meseberg, which eventually led him to financial ruin. Under him and his successors, the garden was primarily extended to the south and transformed into a park that encompassed large parts of the lake shore.

Later owners included the publisher of the Vossische Zeitung, Carl Robert Lessing. He bought the estate for his son Gotthold Ephraim Lessing d. J. (1861–1919), for whom a mausoleum was later built in the park. The publisher's wife, Emma von Gelbke, passed on the story of Baroness Elisabeth von Ardenne to Theodor Fontane, thus providing the inspiration for the novel Effi Briest. In his "Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg" (Walks through the Mark Brandenburg), Fontane referred to Meseberg as a "magic castle."

The Lessing family played a significant role in the further development of the estate. The family crest – three rings symbolizing the ring parable of the related poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing – was affixed multiple times. The house was furnished, among other things, with paintings by Carl Robert Lessing's brother Carl Friedrich Lessing and his nephew Conrad Lessing. Otto Lessing – another nephew of Carl Robert – created various busts of family members and ancestors for Meseberg. The Lessing family owned the estate until 1931.

In 1945, the estate was expropriated without compensation. The demolition of the palace planned by the Red Army was prevented by Mayor Franz Rhode. In the following decades, the palace housed a grocery store, a kindergarten, the municipal office, and other facilities. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Schloss Meseberg – which was not returned to its owners – fell into disrepair until the Messerschmitt Foundation acquired the dilapidated property in 1995 without a concrete usage concept. The palace, garden, and park were restored by the foundation according to monument preservation standards. The foundation, which spent around 25 million euros on this, granted the Federal Government the use of the palace in 2004 for an initial 20 years at a symbolic rent of one euro. The Federal Government invested another 13 million euros for security and communication technology and also covers the ongoing maintenance costs. This use and security also involved interventions in the historical substance of the building. In addition to its function as a guesthouse of the Federal Government, the palace is also to be used for other events such as cabinet retreats and conferences. The handover to the then Head of the Chancellery, Thomas de Maizière, took place on January 26, 2007; the first guest in the house was French President Jacques Chirac.