Manor house in Bernstorf, Manor house in Bernstorf, Nordwestmecklenburg District, Germany.
The manor house in Bernstorf is a two-story Neo-Renaissance building erected from 1877 to 1880 to plans by Georg Daniel in the forms of the Dutch or Weser Renaissance. Brick forms the base and sandstone all architectural details; the long sides are widened by projecting side risalits with tall volute gables, and a tower on an octagonal plan rises on the northeast side, now lacking its former crown.
The name Bernstorf derives from the von Bernstorff family, who owned the estate Bernardestorp from the 13th century, though it was not their ancestral seat. The last owner until 1945 was chamberlain Hermann von Bernsdorff (1867–1946) of Wedendorf, who lived in the manor house from 1933 to 1945. After that the estate was expropriated and put to various uses.
The northeastern gable carries a relief of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, with the inscription 'AD HENRICUS LEO 1167' and the motto 'Fürchte Gott, Scheue Niemand' (Fear God, Shame No One). It was placed to underline the builder's high noble descent and family connections. The same gable motif appears in Mecklenburg only at Dobbertin Monastery, whose facade gable Georg Daniel also designed in 1885.
The manor was extensively restored from 2012 and reopened at the end of April 2014 as a hospice. It is not a museum, so visits depend on the hospice's own arrangements; the Sühnestein of 1359 stands southwest of the house and can be seen from outside.
Southwest of the manor stands the Sühnestein von Bernstorf, a stone dated 1359. It is the only element of the estate predating the 1877–1880 house, which Georg Daniel built for the Bernstorff family in Dutch Renaissance forms.
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