Ragow Palace Park

A genuine old manor house has been preserved over the centuries in Ragow: first mentioned in local chronicles in 1393, it has since undergone many changes. Over the ages there have been fourteen different lords of this estate. They include such well-known aristocratic names as Carl Otto von Schwerin in 1758, Count von Schmettau in 1790 and Baron Bernhard von der Schulenburg in 1853 – after elaborate extensions had been added the year before. At the end of the Second World War the last owners – the von Witte family – were expropriated.

The estate as a whole consists of a manor house and a custodian’s house, stables and a park with a hereditary burial ground and also an ice cellar, orchard, market garden and enclosure trench. The ensemble was entered in the Brandenburg State Monument List. In 1929 the palace park had a total surface area of 1,450 hectares.

Since 1998 the estate has again been in private ownership and the park – which today covers some 100,000 square metres – has been divided into a public and a private section. There are still a number of trails corresponding to the historical paths, providing an excellent example of 19th century garden art. In its present form, the park probably dates from the second half of that century and was created according to Baron von der Schulenburg’s ideas. Stylistically, it therefore follows the popular principles of the Lenné-Meyer school which dominated taste at the time. The visitor can view the park’s layout in three sections.

The area of the park close to the palace is dominated by lawns and meadows with a sparse planting of trees. Then there is a more extensive planting of hornbeams, followed by the oak forest rounding off the park as a whole. A total of 2,526 trees have been registered in the grounds. As points of interest, the palace park also has two ponds and the ruins of an ice cellar. Sight lines provide delightful views, while paths guide visitors to magnificent old groups of trees, and there are also newly erected benches as well as a circular bench, two bridges and the fountain.

Year of construction: second half of the 19th century
How to get there: Car: A12 exit Fürstenwalde/Ost, then via the B87 to Ragow-Merz