Hemmelmark Manor

Gut Hemmelmark is a locality with an old manor house in Barkelsby near Eckernförde in Schleswig-Holstein. The previously independent municipality of Gutsbezirk Hemmelmark, along with its associated localities (such as Louisenberg), became part of Barkelsby in 1928.

In the Middle Ages, Hemmelmark was an estate of the ancient noble Schleswig-Holstein family Sehestedt. Schack Sehested, as a supporter of King Christian II of Denmark, got caught between the fronts and was imprisoned by King Frederick II. Hemmelmark was confiscated in favor of the crown in 1527. However, one of his successors later returned Hemmelmark to his nephew Otto Sehestedt. In 1728, after several changes of ownership, the estate came into the possession of the von Heespen family and the related von Hedemann family. From 1817 onwards, there were several changes of ownership. Albert Wilhelm Heinrich von Preußen (Prince Heinrich) bought the estate in 1894 as a country seat near his residence in the naval city of Kiel. At the beginning of the 20th century, the current manor house, in the style of English country houses, was built by the architect and court master builder Ernst von Ihne, replacing the previous building from the early 18th century. The Prince lived here until his death in 1929. He was buried in a chapel, built in the Russian style, in a field between Hohenstein and Hemmelmark. This chapel is located directly next to a megalithic tomb and is surrounded by trees. A total of 23 stained-glass windows in the crypt chapel were created by the artists Rudolf and Otto Linnemann from Frankfurt.

The estate was inherited by his second son Sigismund (1896–1978), and later by his daughter Barbara Princess of Prussia (1920–1994), married to Christian Ludwig Duke of Mecklenburg, who lived with her family in Hemmelmark.

From 1959 to 1972, the Order of St. John maintained a boarding school for boys and girls in the manor house.