Weißenhaus Castle

The Weißenhaus Estate is located in the municipality of Wangels in the district of Ostholstein, near Weißenhäuser Strand, named after the noble estate. The center of the former estate complex is the so-called Weißenhaus Castle, the former manor house of the property, situated in an extensive park. Today, the Weissenhaus Estate is a 5-star superior hotel, bearing the name Weissenhaus Grand Village Resort & Spa am Meer.

The Weißenhaus Estate originally belonged to the nearby Farve estate district and was established as an independent estate at the beginning of the 17th century as part of an inheritance division. Weißenhaus was in changing possession between the Rantzau and Pogwisch families and came into the possession of the Counts of Platen in 1739 through a sale. Count Georg Ludwig von Platen-Hallermund bought Weißenhaus and several neighboring estates from the compensation he received from King George II of Great Britain for the return of the postal rights of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Von Platen used the estate, which included a small baroque manor house, as a summer residence and had a baroque garden laid out starting in 1741. From 1830, the castle became the ancestral seat of the family branch, and the baroque garden was transformed into a landscape park during this time. In 1895, the repeatedly redesigned castle burned down in a large fire and was subsequently rebuilt.

During World War II, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein confiscated the castle in April 1945 until its occupation by the British. In the same year, one of the large farm barns burned down. In the post-war period from 1945 to 1952, the population of the estate tripled due to displaced persons and those bombed out. From 1952 to 1975, the manor house housed a so-called short school for fire and rescue services, inspired by Kurt Hahn.

From 1993, the Platen-Hallermund family lived only on the nearby Friederikenhof Estate and opened Weißenhaus Castle to the public. The actual estate farming was increasingly reduced over the years, and some of the farm buildings were demolished starting in 1981. The manor house housed several gastronomic establishments, and holiday apartments and shops were set up in the cavalier houses. The castle also served as a venue for changing exhibitions, including lithographs by Marc Chagall and drawings by Armin Mueller-Stahl. At the end of 2005, the property was sold to the Hamburg entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, who continued the business concept only briefly; in 2006, the castle and the cavalier houses were closed for extensive renovations. Restoration measures in 2010 secured the young cattle stable in the eastern part of the farmyard and the severely damaged wheelwright's workshop. The former workshop building was converted into a residential house. An apartment was also created in the left wing of the manor house, and previous installations and alterations were removed.

Since 2013, the hotel operation in Weissenhaus has been running with 26 rooms and suites and 5 apartments. Through restoration measures, the young cattle stable built in the 19th century, today's Reetscheune (thatched barn), was converted into an event venue for cultural events, conferences, or weddings. The severely damaged wheelwright's workshop, the former workshop building, has housed two modern suites of different sizes since 2013. Also part of the Weissenhaus Estate is the thatched dairy, the former workplace of Dutch dairy experts, which now contains 10 rooms and a junior suite. In the newly built gatehouse, in addition to 9 rooms, are the reception and the hotel administration. The historic bathhouse, where the Count and Countess once warmed themselves by the fireplace, was also renovated into a suite with an open-air sauna in a bathing cart.

Weißenhaus Castle was reopened in July 2014 as part of the hotel operation. The exterior of the castle and the park are accessible to visitors. The beach restaurant Bootshaus and the beach bistro Alte Liebe can also be visited at any time. The new use of the area is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

By August 2014, over €4.2 million had been raised through crowdfunding via the Companisto platform. WEISSENHAUS is thus Europe's largest crowdfunding.