Prötzel Castle

Prötzel Palace is a two-story Baroque building in Prötzel (Märkisch-Oderland district).

Prötzel Palace was built from 1712 to 1717 according to plans by Andreas Schlüter for Paul Anton von Kameke in the Baroque style. In 1770, an English-style landscape park was created. In 1800, Prötzel came into the possession of the Barons von Eckardstein. Friedrich August Stüler rebuilt the palace in 1859, during which the garden was also altered. In 1924, the last major renovation took place in the style of the time.

From August 1943 to early 1945, the palace was the residence of Nuncio Cesare Orsenigo. After the expropriation and expulsion of the von Eckardstein family by the communists in 1945, the palace fell into disrepair.

Since 1990, the Prötzel Art Association used the building for its annual exhibitions. Efforts to restore the severely dilapidated building and permanently assign it a new use failed for a long time. In August 2007, the palace was acquired by the Hamburg-based Armenian architect and building contractor Aram Ekavyan, who, together with his brother Vagram Ekavyan, plans a renovation of the palace and subsequent use as a luxury hotel. Since 2011, the palace has been the venue for the International Komitas Festival, named after the Armenian composer and musicologist Komitas Vardapet (1869–1935), under the artistic direction of Thomas Buchholz.