Gut Menkhausen, Historical farm estate in Oerlinghausen, Germany
Gut Menkhausen is a former Meierhof in the Lipperreihe district of Oerlinghausen, at about 220 metres between the Brunsberg and Markslohberg hills. Its sandstone manor house has several timber-framed additions, and a large sandstone barn and utility building survives only one storey high after a fire. The roughly one-hectare grounds include a landscape park with two ponds.
Gut Menkhausen was first recorded on 25 May 1036 in the Busdorf document as the Vorwerk Meginchusen, an outlying farm of the nearby Barkhausen main court. In 1467 the Meier zu Menkhausen took over the farm. In 1871, after the previous owner fell into debt, it was sold to the Steinmeister family, who rebuilt and extended it into a representative residence. In 1841 the estate was separated from Oerlinghausen to support the new Lippe community of Senne, and in 1969, with the incorporation of Lipperreihe and Helpup, it returned to Oerlinghausen's municipal area.
The name Menkhausen derives from "Meginchusen", the form recorded in the 1036 Busdorf document, when the site was a Vorwerk of the Barkhausen main farm. The Meier zu Menkhausen held the farm from 1467; in 1871 it passed to the Steinmeister family, who rebuilt it as a representative residence. The estate remains in private ownership today.
The estate sits in hilly terrain between two hills in the Teutoburg Forest and is accessible via local pathways. Visitors should be aware this is private property and access may be limited depending on current conditions.
One of the source streams feeding the Menkhausen Creek originates from within the estate's park grounds. This natural feature makes the site part of the local water system that extends beyond the property itself.
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