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Ribbeck Castle
Ribbeck Castle, also known as Ribbeck Manor House, is a two-story plastered building with Neo-Baroque forms, erected in 1893 by Hans Georg Hennig von Ribbeck, located in the Ribbeck district of Nauen in the Havelland district of Brandenburg.
The predecessor of the current castle was built around 1822 – 1826 as a single-story country house with a beaver-tail tiled half-hipped roof and dormer windows, replacing an earlier estate on the same site. This country house had a three-axis central risalit and ashlar-plastered corner risalits spanning 11 axes in width. The year 1822 in Roman numerals: MDCCCXXII, on the south gable of the current castle, still commemorates this building. It is believed to have been the double-roofed house from Theodor Fontane's poem "Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland".
Whether the current castle is an extension or a new building due to a fire can no longer be fully clarified. However, it is certain that Hans Georg Henning von Ribbeck (* September 19, 1836; † August 26, 1896) had the current castle built between 1893 and 1895 on the foundations of earlier Ribbeck estates and manor houses.
The castle remained in the possession of the von Ribbeck family until their expropriation and expulsion by the communists in 1947. The castle then passed into the possession of the Nauen district.
In the late 1950s, the castle underwent several structural changes; the facade was greatly simplified, and the curved gables were straightened. The family crest, as well as the mural in the stairwell (1954), were removed. The mural did not fit the socialist image of a Brandenburg Junker. The socialist reconstruction work on the castle ended with the addition of an elevator shaft in 1986. From 1956 until 2004, the castle was used as a nursing home. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the von Ribbeck family made restitution claims, and in 1999, an agreement was reached through a settlement before the Potsdam Administrative Court. Ribbeck Castle is now owned by the Havelland district and was extensively renovated in accordance with monument preservation standards over several years until July 2009. During this process, the elevator shaft was removed, and the facade was restored to its original form. The renovation costs amounted to approximately 5.6 million Euros.
The von Ribbeck family now inhabits two houses in the village. Regarding one, the family writes: "The current residential house directly opposite the castle is modeled after the double-roofed house. The 'double roof' or half-hipped roof with the arrangement of dormers and windows is reminiscent of the castle as it existed during Fontane's lifetime."
Present Day+
The Havelland district, as the owner of the castle, operates it as a district-owned limited liability company (Schloss Ribbeck GmbH). It was reopened on July 4, 2009, after years of restoration, as a cultural tourism center with a concert and fireworks. It serves as a museum dedicated to the work and life of Theodor Fontane and for temporary exhibitions, as well as a registry office, restaurant, and park café. The renovation costs amounted to 5.6 million Euros.
Structures+
Architecture of the Castle
Ribbeck Castle, built in 1893 in Neo-Baroque style, is a two-story plastered building on a high plinth with an extended mansard roof and slate covering. Strong cornice bands between the floors structure the building, which is thirteen axes wide and five axes deep. Ashlar-plastered corner pilasters protrude at the building's corners. The central risalit on the west side of the castle is formed by six ashlar-plastered pilasters of varying widths. A three-axis altana with round-arched windows and an entrance portal projects from the central risalit. A brick-paved carriage driveway with metal railings leads to it.
"A curved triangular gable of three window axes wide with an oval window, tapering into spiral decorative elements on the sides and adorned with vases, crowned this main entrance."
In the cellar, traces of various construction phases can be found. There is a barrel vault from the 17th century, a Prussian cap ceiling from 1893, and a flat ceiling from 1954.
Family Cemetery of the von Ribbeck Family
Directly at the castle is the family cemetery of the von Ribbeck family, established in 1893 due to the death (diphtheria) of three children, with gravestones for:
- Ernestine von Ribbeck (* December 11, 1888; † January 22, 1893)
- Hans Georg Friedrich Werner von Ribbeck (* May 7, 1882; † February 1, 1893)
- Margarethe von Ribbeck (* May 1, 1887; † February 1, 1893)
- Wolf Freiherr von Schele (* May 15, 1895; † November 30, 1910)
- Joachim von Ribbeck (* April 28, 1892; † October 22, 1936)
- Adelheid von Ribbeck (née von Krosigk; * January 20, 1859; † March 28, 1927)
- Hans Georg Henning von Ribbeck (* September 19, 1836; † August 26, 1896)
- Marie-Agnes von Ribbeck (née Freiin von Schele; * September 15, 1880; † August 15, 1967)
- Hans Georg Karl Anton von Ribbeck (Fideikommissherr auf Ribbeck und Bagow; * July 5, 1880; missing in Sachsenhausen concentration camp February 1945)
- Alice Irene Renate von Ribbeck (née von Bose; * November 9, 1907; † June 16, 1979)
- Hans Georg Friedrich Henning von Ribbeck (* July 19, 1907; † January 9, 1993)
In 1994, a memorial stone was also erected for Hans Georg Karl Anton von Ribbeck, the NS resistance fighter murdered in 1945.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: Rainer Gindele
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 52.6257, 12.7528