Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state, alongside Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, is distinguished by its expansive and meticulously maintained landed estates. While political and social developments after 1945 left their mark here as elsewhere, large-scale expropriations, so common in East Germany, did not occur. Many estates between the seas have remained in private hands for generations and continue to be actively managed, making glimpses into the homes and personal lives of their owners both rare and highly prized.
The country house in Niendorf/Stecknitz near Hamburg in the Duchy of Lauenburg, a well-proportioned North German brick building in the classical style, is beginning a new chapter after many years of family ownership, following a path familiar to many castles and manor houses across generations.
Passing down a historic estate, whose walls have witnessed decades of family history, is always an emotional undertaking. It requires careful preparation, thoughtful communication and often patience. The authenticity of a property in a metropolitan region like Hamburg, combined with the limited availability of comparable estates in Schleswig-Holstein, are key considerations when selecting a worthy successor.
In conversation, owner Nicola von Hollander opens the doors to the house and shares stories of notable figures from past and present, turbulent filming days on location, maintenance and preservation, and her visions for the estate’s future.
Contents
- A new chapter after centuries
- Moments that endure: favourite spots and memories
- Crime scene in the manor
- From film sets to real-life visitors
- Manor houses in the Duchy of Lauenburg: networking and exchange
- Heritage protection and authorities: collaborating locally
- Heating, energy and sustainability
- No historic estate without its park
- Visions for the future
1. Ms von Hollander, what thoughts accompany you as you pass on your long-held family estate?
It is always emotionally challenging to pass on a piece of family history. Families evolve, the paths of heirs change, and the energy one can devote is never unlimited.
It is important to me to decide for myself into whose hands the manor and its park will go. To me, they are people who offer strength and inspiration, yet also demand energy and commitment. I hope for new ideas, financial support, and a revitalising new chapter. For in change lies a particular kind of power.
For our family, the manor was a place of survival: my grandparents, my mother, and friends from Berlin found refuge here during the National Socialist era-people who might otherwise not have made it. That is why I call this place our “Noah’s Ark.”
Especially in today’s political climate, one might feel tempted to hold onto the house at all costs. Yet with the responsibility that such an estate entails, my personal wishes will eventually be difficult to reconcile. I therefore hope to find people who will embrace this responsibility with joy, do good for the manor with their capabilities, and at the same time value and engage with the neighbourhood and the wider regional networks.
2. Maintaining, caring for and managing historic estates presents owners with great challenges. Yet there are moments that make it all fade away. What has been your most beautiful moment in the manor, and what will you miss most?
In a house like this, it is almost impossible to single out one most beautiful moment, there are simply too many. For me, one of the greatest pleasures has been sitting on the covered veranda, in wind, rain, sunshine, or snow, gazing out over the park: a living, intact landscape full of history and stories. This view is what I will miss most.
I also hope to always carry in my memory the peacefully grazing sheep, the heron colony chattering in the treetops, and the chorus of frogs at dusk.
3. Your house is anything but spooky. What convinced the film crew to choose Niendorf for the Tatort episode "Borowski and the House of Ghosts" and how did you experience the filming?
When script meets heritage, one might say, “Think about it” and yet it works. Even when you believe that a tiled stove must never be painted, sometimes it happens anyway. During filming, the house can become almost unrecognisable. But as soon as the crew leaves, everything returns to normal, often even more beautiful than before.
The Tatort episode Borowski and the House of Ghosts suited the manor perfectly because in a manner of speaking, good spirits already live here. Axel Milberg didn’t have to search for them. Moreover, he knew the place through my grandfather, Walther von Hollander and his NDR radio show “Was wollen Sie wissen”—Milberg grew up with this pioneering call-in program on German radio and called it “cult.” I believe he had a say in selecting locations and scripts.
Having experience in the film industry myself, I was aware of the effort involved so it did not come as a surprise. Yet I was astonished at times, wondering why a large bookshelf had to be painted from white to green and back again. I was particularly impressed by the intricate icing-like detail applied to furniture and tiles.
The technical side is enormous: lighting is crucial and indispensable in any production. High-voltage power, giant lights on cranes, all to illuminate rooms such as the upper floor from the outside and turn night into day. The manor was for a time practically scaffolded.
Film production requires effort. But for a building like this manor, it is the perfect stage: centuries of history, solid structure and always open to new stories.
4. Has serving as a filming location increased the recognition of your house? Have you received further inquiries from film or media productions since or do you actively highlight the Tatort episode to visitors?
It is difficult to say whether this Tatort episode significantly raised the profile of the house. By comparison, the nearby Schloss Wotersen appeared regularly in the ZDF series Die Guldenburgs, to the point where buses would arrive at our estate with visitors asking if they had reached “Guldenburg,” even though Schloss Wotersen is painted yellow and is not a brick building like our manor.
Our house appeared in “only” one Tatort episode. Location scouts got in touch after the broadcast on ARD, partly because it was listed as a filming location. Today, the search for locations is increasingly influenced by AI, which also affects the film industry.
During the annual "Tag des offenen Denkmals" (German heritage days), visitors often ask me about the Tatort filming, as do other guests of the manor.
5. The Duchy of Lauenburg has a high density of manor houses, for example Schloss Wotersen, known from the Guldenburg series. Is there a local network of estate owners in the region, similar to Mecklenburg, where owners exchange ideas?
Although there are several large manor houses in the Duchy of Lauenburg, we owners are not directly networked. People know each other, but a formal exchange network does not exist.
I am personally a member of the association "Historische Gärten in Schleswig-Holstein" (Historic Gardens in Schleswig-Holstein), a wonderful network for those interested in parks and gardens. It offers support, advice and the opportunity to connect with like-minded enthusiasts.
6. How have you experienced working with the local authorities, particularly regarding communication, approvals and willingness to cooperate? Have there ever been serious conflicts of interest that prevented projects, or do you know of notable cases in the neighbourhood?
Collaboration with the heritage office is solution-oriented and varies from case to case. Sometimes it concerns historically appropriate building materials, at other times fundamental approvals.
The manor itself cannot undergo extensive alterations, for example to add multiple additional bathrooms to each room. Since the park is also under heritage protection, structural changes across the grounds are very limited, and at most possible in the immediate vicinity of the manor. Every tree renovation is submitted to the heritage office, as are restorations of stucco, outbuildings or other historic elements.
Anyone dealing with heritage protection knows the challenges: many restrictions, few subsidies, but tax relief. I have always found practical solutions with the heritage office because the staff also understand that an estate like this can only be maintained with modern technology.
Within the framework of heritage protection, renovation costs can be claimed for tax purposes through special allowances.
7. Efficient heating of large historic buildings is a highly relevant topic today. What are your thoughts on this and what advice would you give future owners to operate the house sustainably and for the long term?
Heating is a major cost factor in a manor. Our house still has an oil burner, which I use only as a backup. It is digitally connected to the wood-log heating system installed in 2018.
The system can be expanded in the future with a pellet system to replace oil and even generate its own electricity. I operate the wood-log stove exclusively with wood from the estate’s own park, my personal “eco cycle”: only dead or fallen wood is used, new trees remain untouched, and no additional wood needs to be purchased.
Solar panels are not possible in a heritage-protected building, but there are now roof tiles with integrated solar modules. I would recommend that future owners use modern technologies to replace the oil heating, for example geothermal energy or a small combined heat and power plant in the courtyard, carefully integrated into the historic structure.
Thanks to the extremely thick walls of the manor, it is very stable, and with today’s technical possibilities I see no obstacles to operating the estate sustainably, comfortably and energy efficiently.
8. The park of Schloss Niendorf was designed by the famous landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné. What makes it special for you, do you have a favourite spot, and is maintaining the park despite the effort a source of inspiration or a soothing escape?
The heart of the manor is undoubtedly the park, my “green lung” and life-giving space. As someone who loves the outdoors, I enjoy working there in sun, wind and rain. The six hectares radiate strength and energy, not least thanks to the centuries-old trees.
Designed in the Lenné tradition, the park extends its tree rows into the surrounding landscape. I am particularly fond of the southwestern corner with a linden avenue, which continues along a country road framed by oaks. Originally all of this land belonged to the estate owner; today the farmland is part of the district domain and the field path belongs to the municipality.
The park itself is deliberately naturalistic, with central lawns surrounded by a woodland edge that provides tranquility and retreat. Behind the manor, one feels “away from the rest of the world.” Lenné focused on meadows, pastures, tree lines and forest areas with solitary trees, the latter of which now survive only on historic maps.
Historically, a robber baron water castle with a drawbridge once stood where the park is today. It was located precisely at the intersection of the park’s axes. The water castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times because the robber barons ambushed merchants on the nearby Alte Salzstraße. Our current manor is oriented east-west at a different location and, in a sense, overlooks the former water castle, a place full of history and stories.
9. Your grandfather Walther von Hollander developed Germany’s first call-in radio show in the 1950s, a milestone in media history. What ideas could the new owners implement to ensure the house makes history again in the next decade?
Every owner brings their own background and ideas. The manor and its park can serve as a family seat for several generations, but they can also be a place for foundations or companies to develop and implement visions.
It is ideally suited for retreats or training programs near Hamburg and Lübeck, only two hours by car from Berlin. It can also be a space for creatives, for example “Artists in Residence,” or for visionaries such as digital innovators looking to create something new.
The park provides an excellent setting for thinking and planning. I have developed many of my best concepts there, likely just as my grandfather and his friend Axel Springer did when they considered starting a publishing house here. Peace and seclusion are the sources of energy for new ideas and visions.
Where media history was once made, a space for new ideas now opens, where past and future enter into a dialogue. The surroundings, between Hamburg’s urban energy, the manor landscapes and lakes of Schleswig-Holstein, and the distant sound of the sea, make the manor and its park a powerful place for both creativity and retreat.
The house’s good spirit remains on site, a silent witness to past decades, a companion for the decades to come and a guardian of its enduring soul.
08309 Eibenstock, Saxony
