Melkof manor house

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Melkof manor house around 1898

The Schloss Melkof manor house is located on a lake in the Melkof district of Vellahn , a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is now privately owned. With over 4800 m² of floor space, the building is one of the largest mansions in northern Germany from the historicist era . The building and park are in the center of the Mecklenburg Elba Valley .

History and ownership successes

Coat of arms of the von Pentz family

Family von Pentz Melkhof

In a document dated August 27, 1471, squire Ullrich Pentz zu Melkhof was first mentioned in a document. From this it can be seen that he was the owner of hooves and farms in Melkhof. Ullrich Pentz is considered to be the founding father of the Melkhof family.

His sons Paschen and Helmold appeared for the first time as lords of the Melkhof estate, with all associated claims and obligations. After Paschen von Pentz died in 1533, his brother Helmold took over his fiefdoms , including Melkhof. However, this is only temporary in order to manage this for Paschen's daughter Ursula. From the land book of knighthood and nobility from 1535, Helmold von Pentz emerges as lord of Melkhof and Quast. He moved his main residence from Quast to Melkhof in 1537.

In 1553 Helmold transferred the fiefdoms to his daughter Anna and her husband Wolf von Ahlefeld for life. The contract was confirmed on December 30, 1553 by Duke Johann Albrecht . Helmold von Pentz, who was already blind, died in the second half of 1572. He and his older brother Paschen were the first masters of the Melkhof estate.

Family von Pentz Raguth

As early as 1571, Christoph von Pentz from the Raguther house came into partial possession of the Melkhof estate.

On November 29, 1629 the estate was divided in the Raguther line. Kuno Ulrich von Pentz then received the Melkhof estate. It was not until 1648, after the death of Levin von Pentz, that the property came into the possession of the sons Kuno Ullrich and Markwart Ernst; but not by inheritance, but as a lieutenant.

With the death of Markwart Ernst von Pentz in 1733, the Raguther line ended without a male heir. The estate therefore fell to the Besendorfer line of the von Pentz family after an agreement had been reached with the widow.

Family von Pentz Besendorf and Brahlstorf

With the expiry of the Besendorfer line of the von Pentz family, the Melkhof, Jesow and Langenheide estates passed to the feudal cousins ​​of the Brahlstorfer house. In 1771 David and Wilken von Pentz took over these goods. Landlord David von Pentz died on June 28, 1799 in the Melkhof manor. In September 1800, the son and heir Carl Friedrich Wilhelm von Pentz was invited to Schwerin to take the feudal oath with regard to the Melkhof, Jesow and Langenheide estates he had inherited.

Carl von Pentz's mother also died on March 12, 1811. Thereupon the heir commissioned the chamberlain and estate manager Hans von Graevenitz to sell the Melkhof estate, with the condition that the Melkhof estate should not be sold for less than 200,000  thalers . It was not until 1819 that a buyer was found, the Hanoverian State and Cabinet Minister Claus von der Betten . Carl von Pentz died on May 18, 1827 in Frankfurt am Main.

Family from the blankets

On behalf of the new landlord, a classicist mansion was built between 1819 and 1820.

Only a few years later, Klaus von der Betten died on July 10, 1826 in Hanover. The property was inherited by his son Ernst Carl von der Betten, who also had his main residence on Melkhof. When he died in 1846, his eldest son, Julius von derdeck, who was still a minor, became the inheritance. After an agreement with the curatel of the underage children of the deceased, the two brothers of the deceased were recognized as the current owners of the Melkhof, Jesow and Langenheide estates. Upon reaching the age of majority, Julius von der Betten inherited his father's inheritance and from then on took over responsibility for running the estate. The heir's younger brother Carl Claus von der Betten , a well-known East African traveler, also lived on Gut Melkhof.

Landlord Julius von der Brille died on June 16, 1867 while on a trip abroad in Vichy .

After Julius von der Betten's death, his widow Anna Hedwig von der Betten had the Melkof manor church , which is now used as a Protestant village church , built on the castle grounds with an annex.

Four generations from the ceiling on Melkof, from the Minister Claus from the ceiling to the great-grandchildren

Von Kanitz family

The daughter of Julius von der Betten and Hedwig von Kleist , Adelheid von derecken , married the Prussian Count Konrad Erich Rudolf von Kanitz (1844–1901) in the Gutskirche Melkhof on September 15, 1875, and inherited the family entrustment under the Mecklenburg maiden law . The marriage had four children.

As Grand Ducal Mecklenburg-Schwerin Chamberlain , Count von Kanitz maintained close contacts with the Grand Ducal House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . So he could in October 1893 Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III. and Grand Duchess Anastasia as well as Prince and Princess Reuss as his guests at Melkof Castle. The dukes Adolf Friedrich and Heinrich zu Mecklenburg gladly accepted the count's invitations to hunt, as in the years 1898/1899. Duke-Regent Johann Albrecht zu Mecklenburg and his wife Elisabeth also visited the von Kanitz family in 1899 on their property. In 1901 the Knight of Honor of the Order of St. John and Prussian Rittmeister a. D. Konrad Erich Rudolf Graf von Kanitz on his estate in Melkof.

At the request of Adelheid von Kanitz, the Melkhof estate was renamed by sovereign order in the transition from 1887 to 1888, and since then it has been called Melkof.

The son Bolko Konrad Graf von Kanitz, born in 1883, took over the Melkof estate from his mother in 1909. Due to his military service, in the summer of 1914 he transferred the management of the estate to his father-in-law, Count Franz Hubert von Tiele-Winckler . Captain Bolko Konrad Graf von Kanitz died on November 25, 1916 of a tropical disease in Sulaimaniyya during his deployment in Mesopotamia, what is now Iraq . The marriage with Jelka Freiin von Tiele-Winckler resulted in three children, two sons and a daughter. It was tragic that the children born in 1908, 1912 and 1916 also lost their mother, who died on January 8, 1922 in Zützen . Despite the difficult fate, the family was able to maintain the farm. The mansion and the estate remained in family ownership until they were expropriated in 1945.

1945–1990

After the von Kanitz family had been expropriated in 1945, the Soviet occupying forces had a retirement home set up in the manor house.

In 1948, the Soviet district command in Hagenow issued the order to demolish the building, but this was not carried out.

With the founding of the GDR , the property became public property. Castle Melkof housed in the following years a circle Feierabendheim for which the VEB tile works " Kurt citizens " Boizenburg took over sponsorship in the 1970s.

1990 – today

After the end of the GDR , the manor house was still used as a residence for senior citizens. The building was later used to house addict women.

In 2003, a private investor acquired the property from the Ludwigslust district.

Ownership successes

owner Period
Pentz family 1400 to 1819
Family from the blankets 1819 to 1875
Von Kanitz family 1875 to 1946
Public property 1946 to 1990
Ludwigslust district 1990 to 1996
The Schönfelder family from 2003

Classicist mansion

Classicist predecessor building

history

The predecessor of today's manor house was probably built between 1819 and 1820. The building planning is assigned to the regionally active architect Carl Heinrich Wünsch .

Exterior design

View of the winter garden

Herrenhaus Melkof was a plastered building built in the classical style , with a rectangular base and short side risers .

In front was the portico with its four Doric columns . A simple architrave , which was crowned by a triangular gable, rested on the squat, bulging capitals . Access to the stately building was via the representative wide entrance stairs. In the base area of ​​the building, the outer surfaces were cuboid all the way round, delimited from the floor above with a cornice. The outer surfaces of the short side risalites were also cuboid, following the appearance of the basement. The existing profiled rectangular windows corresponded to the classical style. Profiled areas below the windows on the ground floor were designed with historicizing terracotta elements. There were other decorative elements on the building, such as the frieze elements on the portico and the cornice of different shapes on the building. The light painting of the building, brightening from the base to the cornice, was typical of classicist buildings.

The building also included the imposing winter garden , which was arranged on the rear in the center of the building, with direct access from the interior of the manor house. The construction was provided with vegetable decorative elements.

The building closed at the top with a hipped roof .

The access road with a circular lawn , the park and the lake formed the ornate surroundings of the manor house.

Interior design

The mansion had a central entrance hall, which was flanked by two halls. A garden hall was also connected to the entrance hall. Also worth mentioning is the trompe-l'oeil painting, which adorned the west gable and offered the viewer a view through a portal into the apparent "infinity".

Historic manor house

Manor house Melkof, park side / lake side
Melkof Manor, 2008

Konrad Erich Rudolf von Kanitz commissioned the redesign of the property in 1888. The manor house was fundamentally rebuilt and expanded according to a design by the architect Gotthilf Ludwig Möckel .

Exterior design

Melkof Castle is based on an H-shaped floor plan and is built over a basement. The two-storey building is made of hard-fired brick and follows the neo -renaissance style . The long structure of the building facing the driveway, with a short central projection, ends on the sides with two protruding side wings of different sizes. In the middle of the building, components of the classicist predecessor building were also integrated. The main entrance with a decorated wooden door in the front center of the building forms the focal point.

The numerous existing windows were partly provided with beautiful lead glazing. In the basement, the windows are also protected by wrought-iron window bars, which in turn are decorated with floral elements. The ventilation openings below the ground floor windows are also protected by attractive cast iron covers.

The large balcony with a view of the park is framed by a balustrade made of shaped stones. On the park side, below the balcony, there is also a spacious terrace with a staircase on both sides. The associated wrought iron banister is adorned with decorative vegetal elements.

The mansion includes upwards with a high pitched roof from which to engobed tiles was covered.

Structural interventions have damaged or completely removed numerous stylistic elements of the building in the last few decades, which is why today's appearance differs from the former appearance.

The building is now a listed building .

Interior design

The ground floor and the first floor were reserved for the landlord family and the guests of the house. The utility area was housed in the basement of the building and the living quarters for the servants and other house staff were in the attic.

The interior of the Melkof manor is only partially preserved. The interior fittings that still exist, however, give an idea of ​​the house's former stately furnishings. The ground floor is accessed via a single stone staircase. The entrance hall is lined with ornate wooden panels. Starting from the entrance hall, you enter the coat of arms hall , which is located in the left side wing. This hall is decorated with ornate wooden fixtures and inlay work in the neo-Renaissance style. The floor of the coat of arms room is also covered with high-quality wooden parquet. A wooden vaulted ceiling closes the hall at the top. The three-lane, color-glazed windows that extend over the entire height of the hall, topped off with high round arches, are decorated with the coats of arms of the owner families. The alliance coat of arms of the von der Deck and von Kleist families can be found in the middle window strip, and underneath the alliance coat of arms of the Kanitz and von der Deck families .

Starting from the entrance hall, the stately fireplace room is also accessible via a corridor . In the chimney room, a large chimney with a double mantelpiece forms the center, in whose flanking niches the wall design from the period of origin is preserved. The ceiling of the fireplace room is equipped with five lavishly decorated wooden arches that extend the entire length of the room. A garden salon adjoins the fireplace room. The double doors adorned with vegetable carvings and the direct exit to the large terrace are remarkable.

In the course of renovation and restoration work, further elements in the interior are to be exposed.

Literature and Sources

literature

  • Friedrich Schlie : The art and historical monuments of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. III. Volume, Schwerin 1899, p. 155.
  • Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 2000, ISBN 978-3-422-03081-7 , p. 340.
  • Hugo von Pentz: Album of Mecklenburg goods in the former Wittenburg office. Thomas Helms Verlag , Schwerin 2005, ISBN 978-3-935749-37-4 , pp. 78-82.
  • Hans Maresch: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's palaces, castles and mansions. Husum Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Husum 2010, ISBN 978-3-898-76495-7 , p. 173.
  • Marcus Köhler (Ed.): Orangeries. Glass houses, greenhouses, winter gardens in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Aland-Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 978-3-936-40205-6 .
  • Friedrich von Meyenn: Documented history of the von Pentz family. Bärensprungsche Hofbuchdruckerei, Schwerin 1891 and 1900. (Digitized Volume I and Volume II )

Printed sources

Unprinted sources

  • State Main Archive Schwerin
    • Holdings: (5.12-4 / 2) No. 4579, Ministry of Agriculture, Domains and Forests, Gut Melkhof cp Langenheide and Jesow, duration: 1928–1945.
    • Holdings: (5.12-3 / 1) No. 5563, Mecklenburg-Schwerin Ministry of the Interior (1849–1945), rural community Melkof.
    • Holdings: (5.12-9 / 2) District Office Hagenow, Melkof, duration: 1938–1947.
    • Holdings: (5.12-7 / 1) Mecklenburg-Schwerin Ministry for Education, Art, Spiritual and Medical Matters (1849–1945), Melkof.
    • Existence: (3.1-1) Article XXI, 382, ​​57, Mecklenburg Land estates with the Select Committee of the Knights and Landscapes of Rostock, Appellation of the Lord Hunters' Master von Pentz on Melkhof against the Regional and Court Court pto. violatae jurisdictionis, duration: 1747.
  • GStA PK
    • Holdings: (HA Rep. 167), No. 207, State Office for Family Goods, Fideikommiss von derecken-Melkof, running time: 1935.

Web links

Commons : Herrenhaus Melkof  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich von Meyenn: Documented history of the von Pentz family. Volume I. Bärensprungsche Hofbuchdruckerei, Schwerin 1891, document of Aug. 27, 1471, No. 179.
  2. ^ Friedrich von Meyenn: Documented history of the von Pentz family. Volume I. Bärensprungsche Hofbuchdruckerei, Schwerin 1891, p. 244 (§ 46).
  3. ^ Friedrich von Meyenn: Documented history of the von Pentz family. Volume I. Bärensprungsche Hofbuchdruckerei, Schwerin 1891, p. 256 (§ 49).
  4. ^ Friedrich von Meyenn: Documented history of the von Pentz family. Volume II. Bärensprungsche Hofbuchdruckerei, Schwerin 1891, p. 138 (§ 112).
  5. ^ Felix Lüdemann: Palaces, manor houses and domain tenant houses in the Ludwigslust region and the Neuhaus office: Contributions to the monument topography of Mecklenburg and Pomerania. Part 1. Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-00-044538-5 , p. 90.
  6. ^ Government Gazette for Schwerin, p. 21, No. 5, third section, Justice Ministry Schwerin, January 12, 1851
  7. ↑ Herwart and Thassilo from the ceiling: family tables of the family from the ceiling. 1994, p. 105.
  8. ↑ a b Herwart and Thassilo from the ceiling: genealogical tables of the family from the ceiling. 1994, p. 106.
  9. ↑ Thassilo von der Betten and Claudia Bei der Wieden: Guts und Höfe der Familie von der Betten , Stade 1998, p. 260.
  10. ↑ Hedwig Charlotte Emilia Julie, born August 1, 1876; Marie Hedwig Charlotte Adelheid, born July 24, 1877; Elisabeth Charlotte Luise Hedwig Asta, born on March 28, 1881; Bolko Georg Oskar Friedrich Julius Emil Konrad, born on November 7, 1883.
  11. ^ Carl Schröder: Friedrich Franz III., Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin: From his life and his letters. Verlag Friedrich Bahn, Schwerin 1898, p. 344.
  12. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the count's houses . Justus Perthes, Gotha 1911, p. 439.
  13. ^ Friedrich von Meyenn: Documented history of the von Pentz family. Volume I. Bärensprungsche Hofbuchdruckerei, Schwerin 1891, p. 145 f (§ 16).
  14. ↑ Comparison of the place name: Government Gazette for Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1887, p. 237, No. 36 of Oct. 24th. 1887 "Regulation of Landpostträger-Connection (including Melkhof )"; Government Gazette for Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1888, p. 127, No. 24 of June 13, 1888 "Establishment of a telegraph station in Melkof with telephone operation, which will be in operation from June 12".
  15. ^ Antje Strahl: The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in the First World War: From peace to war economy. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne u. Weimar 2015, ISBN 978-3-412-22496-7 , p. 31 ff.
  16. ^ Buried in the German military cemetery in Tarabya ( Istanbul ); Grave No. 137. cf. Norbert Schawke: German soldiers graves in Israel: the use of German soldiers on the Palestine front in the First World War and the fate of their graves. Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 2008, ISBN 978-3-4020-0231-5 , p. 131.
  17. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the count's houses . Justus Perthes, Gotha 1921, p. 463.
  18. ↑ Katja Schlenker: The uncomfortable legacy: Mecklenburg estates and manor houses since 1945. Ingo Koch Verlag, Rostock 2006, ISBN 978-3-935319-15-7 , p. 97.
  19. ↑ LHAS inventory: (07.13.01 / 02) BGL 122, VEB Fliesenwerke / factory union management, sponsorship agreement between VEB Fliesenwerke "Kurt Bürger" Boizenburg and the district party evening home in Melkof, district of Hagenow from September 20, 1974, running time: 1974.
  20. ↑ mansions around Lübenheen. In: www.kulturverein-luebtheen.de. Retrieved November 14, 2016 .
  21. ^ Felix Lüdemann: Palaces, manor houses and domain tenant houses in the Ludwigslust region and the Neuhaus office: Contributions to the monument topography of Mecklenburg and Pomerania. Part 1. Hamburg 2013, p. 121 f.

Coordinates: 53 ° 21 '35.2 "  N , 11 ° 1' 25.4"  E