Rauschendorf Castle

The origins of Rauschendorf Castle lie in a knight's seat established after 1220 by Gebhard von Arnstein to secure his landholdings. After the extinction of the Counts of Lindow-Ruppin in 1524, the property passed to Elector Joachim of Brandenburg and, in 1581, to the von der Groeben family through an exchange. In 1723, Count Hermann von Wartensleben married Dorothea von der Groeben, thereby acquiring the estates of Rauschendorf and Schönermark. Around 1735, he had the first Rauschendorf Castle built as a one-story plastered building, incorporating the foundations of the old knight's seat. After Count Wartensleben built Meseberg Castle around 1737, Rauschendorf lost significance. In 1774, the Count's daughters sold the castle to Prince Heinrich of Prussia, who gifted it to Major von Kaphengst. Following his indebtedness, ownership transferred to Count Blumenthal in 1798 and to J. F. C.