Schloss Calberwisch

Schloss Calberwisch stands at the southern entrance of Calberwisch, a village in the Altmark region of Saxony-Anhalt. The present building replaced an earlier wooden structure with solid foundations, rebuilt in 1692 and demolished in 1839 after becoming unsafe. Designed in the Gründerzeit style, it is a two-storey brick mansion on a semi-basement with an H-shaped floor plan. A broad flight of steps leads up from the garden side. The architects were Martin Gropius and Heino Schmieden, both from Berlin, giving the house wider significance. The estate belonged to the noble von Jagow family from the late 18th century. Wilhelm von Jagow owned sixteen manors and large forest districts. The present castle was built in 1875 for Bernhard von Jagow, a cavalry officer in the elite Gardes du Corps regiment, and his wife Johanna, daughter of Count Pourtalés. It also housed the von Jagow family archive. The last private owner was Gertrud von Patow, widow of a First World War officer, who fled in 1945. After 1945 the building served as a refugee shelter, nursery, supermarket and youth club. Today the castle and its park are private homes and cannot be visited. The building remains a fine example of late 19th-century historicist architecture, with its brick and plaster façade recalling Renaissance motifs. The H-shaped plan and garden front staircase show the careful planning of Gropius and Schmieden. Though closed to the public, its exterior still marks the entrance to Calberwisch and reminds visitors of the region’s landed history.