Liepen Castle

Liepen Water Castle is located in the village of Liepen, a district of the municipality of Gielow, east of Lake Kummerow in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

In 1337, the noble family Hahn, whose ancestral seat Basedow is located a little to the west, was enfeoffed with the castle complex and estate of Liepen. The water castle was presumably built at this time as a manorial seat and defensive structure. It was built on a crescent-shaped moat. To achieve comprehensive protection, this was supplemented by a ditch to the east. After the end of the Thirty Years' War, the castle lost its importance as a defensive structure and fell into disrepair. In 1700, a baroque manor house was built on the preserved cellar vaults. The square building, in its current state, is an unadorned, single-story plastered building.

It remained in the possession of the Hahn family until the forced expropriation in 1945 and was subsequently used as a residential building. From 1994 to 1998, the complex underwent extensive renovation. Currently, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommerscher Denkmalpflegehof Liepen e. V. (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Monument Preservation Association Liepen) is based in Liepen Water Castle. There is also an exhibition on the building history of the water castle and the "Heimatstube Gielow" (Gielow Local History Room) in the castle. The cellar vaults and seminar rooms can be rented for celebrations, meetings, and lectures.