Borstel Manor House, Heritage manor house in Borstel, Germany.
Borstel Manor House is a Rococo building constructed from 1743 to 1751 to plans by Johann Christian Böhme, after a fire destroyed the previous manor in 1737. The cour d'honneur facade has polygonal projections on each side and a central portico framed by pilasters; the garden facade carries a semicircular pediment. The U-shaped courtyard is formed by the corps de logis and two small service buildings, and the enfilade salons retain Rococo stucco.
Borstel was first mentioned in the mid-13th century; by 1440 the land belonged to Johann von Hummersbüttel, whose son Hartwich passed it to Detlev von Buchwaldt in 1496. The Buchwaldts held it for centuries until the estate was divided in 1588. The present manor was built from 1743 to 1751 after a fire destroyed the previous building in 1737. The Bernstorff family acquired it by marriage in 1761, and the counts of Baudissin inherited it at the end of the 18th century, keeping it until 1930.
The estate's name comes from the von Borstel family, recorded around 1250–1350; in 1588 the Borstel and Jersbek estates were split by inheritance contract, and the original document is kept in the estate archives in the Schleswig state archive. The manor later served as a training home for young women in the Third Reich's Arbeitsdienst and after the war housed German refugees from former East Prussia.
The manor lies in Borstel, part of the municipality of Sülfeld in the Segeberg district, about 30 km north of Hamburg and 13 km south of Bad Segeberg. The house itself belongs to the Borstel Research Centre, while the former baroque garden, later turned landscape garden, is open to visitors as a natural and cultural monument. Access to the interiors is not general, so enquire with the research centre before planning a visit.
The manor's interior restoration in 1992 cost seven million euros. The ballroom facing the park was redone in Neoclassical style in the 19th century, while the enfilade salons retain their Rococo stucco work.
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