History
The former lordly castle area is the oldest part of Lübbenau. At the park entrance stands a wrought-iron gate with a tower and a crown-adorned serpent. This indicates the last owners of the Lübbenau estate, the Counts of Lynar. The family originally came from Tuscany. The fortress builder Rochus Guerrini, Count of Lynar, was the first of his family to arrive in Germany in 1568. Elisabeth (daughter of Christian Distelmeyer, Chancellor of the Margraviate of Brandenburg), the widow of Count Johann Casimir of Lynar, purchased the Lübbenau estate in 1621. It remained in the possession of one family for more than three hundred years.
A medieval moated castle stood on the site of the current building. Around 1600, it was converted into a Renaissance-style castle. The complex received its current appearance largely between 1817 and 1820 by Carl August Benjamin Siegel. The two towers at the rear of the castle were not added until 1839 by Homann. The surrounding nine-hectare park in the English landscape style was created from 1820 onwards and was laid out by H. W. and J. E. Freschke.[1] The plans go back to Peter Joseph Lenné.
On October 17, 1928, the previously independent estate district "Schloss Lübbenau" was incorporated into the town of Lübbenau. Count Wilhelm zu Lynar took over the estate of Lübbenau in 1928. The count's family moved their residence to Seese, to the family estate there, in 1930. A museum was opened on May 1, 1932, partly to save on property taxes. The director of the Märkisches Museum Berlin was commissioned to establish it. The exhibition included Lynar family portraits, often created by renowned artists, prehistoric finds, polemics by Martin Luther, a collection of music and weapons, the armor of Count Johannes Siegesmund from the Thirty Years' War, and other art and everyday objects from the history of the castle. With the outbreak of World War II, the collections were relocated to Seese. The Reich Air Force established a cartographic institute in the castle and the orangery. In January 1944, a fire broke out in the right wing of the castle, destroying numerous furnishings. From 1944 onwards, the castle also served as a field hospital.
Bust of Rochus, Count of Lynar
Memorial plaque for Wilhelm, Count of Lynar