Wahlstorf Manor

The Origin: a Moated Castle

The structure of the current manor house dates back to a late medieval moated castle, which Detlev von Thienen built starting in 1469. It was a two-story brick double house with two gabled roofs and stepped gables. Facing the courtyard was a stair tower, where the only entrance, about two meters high, was via a kind of ladder or drawbridge. A moat directly surrounded the building. The rooms on the ground floor had only small, high-set windows. Overall, the house was designed to offer protection against attackers and to be effectively defended by a few people. On the garden side, there are two still-existing latrine pillars.

Renovations

Presumably in the 16th century, along with the farm buildings and the gatehouse, the surrounding moat was created. The moat directly around the manor house was now unnecessary and was filled in under Hans von Thienen in 1613. In the same year, a gable extension was added to the left of the stair tower, allowing ground-level access to the building; the courtyard side was asymmetrical until another gable extension was added to the right of the stair tower in 1924.

In 1704, under Wulf Hinrich von Thienen († 1708), the stepped gables and gabled roofs were replaced by hip roofs, the windows were enlarged to their current size, and the staircase was relocated, so that the entrance today is through the former stair tower. The rooms were decorated in the Baroque style; in particular, the hall received its stucco ceiling.

Under Claus von Thienen, the gatehouse was built in 1581 (this was demolished in the 19th century). In 1584, the large wheat barn was built as a half-timbered structure with a thatched half-hip roof, which was extended in 1695. There is also a grain barn from the 18th century.

From 1469 – the year Wahlstorf was purchased by Detlev von Thienen – the estate remained in continuous possession of the von Thienen family until the 18th century. In 1736, the later heiress of Wahlstorf, Elisabeth Christine von Thienen, married the Royal Danish Chamberlain and later Royal Chief Master of Ceremonies Mogens Scheel von Plessen, so that Wahlstorf came into the possession of the von Plessen family or the comital line Scheel-Plessen. Because the Plessens chose Sierhagen Estate as their main residence, Wahlstorf was deserted in the 19th century and was only permanently inhabited again in the 20th century.