Schloss Kröchlendorff, manor house

The Marstall (stables), the castle church, the nursery and the farmyard all used to be part of the castle complex. Nowadays, the premises consist of the castle, the Marstall, the newly built guest house, the high and low rope course and the climbing wall.

The history of the von Arnim family in Kröchlendorff started in the 15th century, as the place had been in their possession since 1442. In the 16th century, an outlying estate of the von Arnim main estate in Boitzenburg was built on the Kröchlendorffer Feldmark site. From 1682, Kröchlendorff was used as the mother’s widow’s residence. A branch of the family gradually settled here and started to extend the outlying estate into a manor complex. The first manor house was built in 1731. However, it was looted and destroyed in the Napoleonic Wars in 1806. The family returned to Kröchlendorff around 1840 as Oskar von Arnim took over the manor complex. After marrying Malwine von Bismarck, the family started building the new manor house. The Marstall was built around 1860, and in 1861 the von Arnims arranged for a little neo-Gothic style church to be built based on designs by the royal architect Ferdinand von Arnim. The sad occasion for adding the church was the tragic death of their oldest son Abraham Friedrich Detlef von Arnim. After the new church had been completed, the old village church in the graveyard was removed in 1868, apart from its vaulted basement. Covered with soil it now carries the memorial stone with the names of the deceased members of the von Arnim family. In 1904, Detlef von Arnim moved into the castle. He was the grandson of the original owner and the castle’s last owner. The history of the von Arnim family in Kröchlendorff ended in 1945, when the Red Army marched in and occupied the castle.

During the Second World War, parts of the Japanese embassy were moved form Berlin to the castle. It was later used as accommodation for refugees and displaced persons. In 1949, the castle was taken over by the social insurance institution of the State of Brandenburg, who set up a hospital for tuberculosis patients. A sanatorium was added in 1951 and a children's recovery home in 1960.

In 1993, the State of Brandenburg handed the castle and the park over to the OUTWARD BOUND DGEE e.V. association. Following comprehensive reconstruction measures, a conference, event and education centre was opened in October 1996.

The castle church was abandoned as a religious facility in 1968 and it was profaned. The municipality Nordwestuckermark spent nine years (1993 – 2000) to completely reconstruct the neo-Gothic structure, even though the level of destruction had been enormous. The church in Kröchlendorff is now a gem of the Uckermark region and is used as a cultural and event venue.

The land was partitioned in the course of the land reform of 1945. The first Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft (LPG, Agricultural Production Cooperative) that used the land of the castle farmyard was established in 1952. It was combined with the neighbouring LPG Gollmitz in 1967. The farmyard then lost its significance and was neglected.

After the reunification, Barbara von Oppen (née von Arnim) and her husband were able to buy and lease the farmyard and further land from the trust agency and private owners. The von Oppen family has pursued farming activities ever since.

The land of the former manor nursery is currently managed by the 3rd generation of the Haucke family.

The little church and the castle are now known even beyond the Uckermark as romantic places for wedding ceremonies and celebrations.