Drostei, Rococo city palace in Pinneberg, Germany

The Drostei is a two-storey brick palace with a mansard roof of black-glazed pantiles, built 1765–1767 at Dingstätte 23. Its nine-axis fronts have sandstone portals with single-flight stairs in three-storey triangular-pedimented central projections; the main portal's curved gable bears the Ahlefeldt/von Grote coat of arms. Inside, the entrance hall has black-and-white marble tiles, three salons en filade keep coloured fabric wall coverings, and a continuous ballroom occupies the first floor.

Built in 1765–1767 as a brick palace for the Landdrost Hans von Ahlefeldt, it was long called the Ahlefeldt-Schloss; the architect is uncertain, with Ernst Georg Sonnin, Georg Greggenhofer and Cai Dose all proposed. Until the mid-19th century it housed the Landdroste of the County of Pinneberg, then the district administrators. From 1929 the cadastral office used the ground floor, and from 1938 also the upper rooms, which the Pinneberg SA had used as a "Standartenhaus" since 1933. Restored 1984–1991, it has been a district cultural centre since 1991.

The building was first called Ahlefeldt-Schloss after its patron, and only later took the name Drostei from the Landdroste who governed the county of Pinneberg from here. Since 1991 it has been a district cultural centre, billed as a "house of Baroque and Modernism", with contemporary art and photography exhibitions and chamber music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Civil weddings are held once a month, when the palace serves as a branch of the Pinneberg registry office.

The building now serves as a cultural center and hosts exhibitions, concerts, and readings throughout the year. It is worth checking ahead to see what is currently on before visiting.

Two doors in the attic come from the wooden wall panelling of the much smaller predecessor building that stood here before 1765. In the cellar, now a restaurant, the old kitchen chimney is considered a notable survival.