Old manors northern Germany: Rethwischhof

Manor house from 1780 threatened with demolition (August 2023)

Rethwischfeld is a district of the municipality of Rethwisch near Bad Oldesloe in the district of Stormarn in Schleswig-Holstein. The building stands inconspicuously in the center of the village, slightly set back from the thoroughfare 'Zum Amt'. In the past decades it was mostly quiet around the supra-regionally hardly known and for many years uninhabited manor house.

The manor house was built during the time of the Duchy of Holstein in 1780 in the classicist style as an annex of Rethwisch Castle and is thus one of the last remaining witnesses of the short-lived residential town of Rethwisch - the castle, which used to be located at the southern end of Rethwisch, had lost its significance with the emergence of the Danish state and had already been demolished earlier due to its dilapidated condition.

In the house, the stately character is still well recognizable despite modern alterations; preserved are original paneling, a fireplace in the salon, stucco ceilings, and original doors and floors.

According to a report in the Hamburger Abendblatt of August 2, 2023 (Paywall), the house could now, more than 250 years later, suffer the same fate as the vanished castle and the associated mint, which also no longer exists: the building complex consisting of manor house and garden with the former number 12560 has already been deleted from the Stormarn list of monuments and could now make way for a new building with 30 apartments.

"Lost Portico": A small collection of pictures of demolished buildings

Rethwischhof: View of the entrance area

Rethwischhof: Front view of the manor house