Schloss Diedersdorf (Vierlinden) manor house

Diedersdorf Castle, which follows the “manor house” style, was built in the 18th century for the Kunow Council of War and altered many times over the years. Today, it is privately owned and can be viewed from outside.

By 1945, the estate had changed hands three times. The Kunow Council of War gave the order for the Baroque manor house to be built in 1748. The single-storey plastered building rises on a high basement storey. The manor house remained in the ownership of the Kunow family until 1792. The right of ownership ended with the sale of the estate to the senior administration official Lehmann and his heirs.

In 1872, the third owner, the Seidel family from Berlin, acquired the manor house. The elaborate central portal, incorporating historic forms in the Neo-Baroque style, was added by the then estate owner in 1876. There are hand-crafted additions to the architecture in the form of the cast iron railings on the outside stairs and verandah.

In the turmoil of the Second World War, the Castle was used as a field hospital and a temporary headquarters for the German armed forces, among other things. This is why it was largely spared the devastation suffered by other manor houses.
After 1945, the manor house passed into the hands of the State following the Land Reforms. Some restoration work was carried out on the manor house in 1960; however, complete renovation was impossible because of the shortage of funds.

Until the middle of the 1990s, it housed a kindergarten, a medical practice, a youth club, the local government office plus offices and residential space. Immediately after German Reunification, the manor house fell into the ownership of the local authority. Because of the dilapidated structural condition of the manor house and the shortage of funds, it soon became clear that the local authority would not be able to refurbish the building.
Brandenburgische Schlösser GmbH has owned the property since summer 1994. The local authority handed over the building, which had been put to many different uses before Reunification, for one symbolic German mark. It is thanks to the former departmental director Hannelore Schanze and former mayor Roswitha Tiede that the manor house was taken over by Brandenburgische Schlösser GmbH. Hannelore Schanze became aware of Brandenburgische Schlösser GmbH, which was still at the planning stage, and Dr Wolfgang Illert, the company’s present Managing Director. With the decision to sell, the local authority representatives drew a line under the long-standing discussions about the use of the property.

Work then started on restoring the seriously damaged building. Old photographs dating from 1920 were a guide to the renewal of the roof in 1997. These were taken from a doctoral thesis on the subject of castles written in 1929. After completion of the restoration work, various companies settled in Diedersdorf Castle.

The adjoining park was created in the 19th century. The individual trees and groups of trees, the pond and stream and the still discernible historic vistas indicate that there was once a landscape garden here. It is worth taking a walk through the castle grounds.

Source: www.schlossdiedersdorf.com