Some 15 k.m. to the east of the Wolfschanze 'Reichsaussenminister' Joachim von Ribbentrop had his residence since July 1941. He and his staff occupied the old mansion 'Schloss Steinort' in Gross Steinort on the borders of the Mauersee and stayed here permanently. He would only leave when Hitler was away in the Bavarian alps or on the eastern front. Ribbentrop left November 20, 1944 and would never return again.
The place was home for the old East-Prussian family of Graf Lehndorff who had lived here for 500 years. They build the place between 1554 and 1572, it was destroyed in 1656 and rebuild in a 'barock' style between 1689 and 1691 and was known as the best looking East-Prussian 'Gut'. The last of the Lehndorffs was Heinrich, he lived in a small restricted part of the mansion, was arrested after the plot on Hitler's life and brought to death in the 'Ploetzensee' jail in Berlin September 4, 1944.
The Lehndorff's were related to the von Dohnhoff family. Marion Grafin von Dohnhoff (born December 2, 1909) fled from East-Prussia January 1945 and would become a well-known publisher after the war in (West)-Germany. She also wrote many books on the East-Prussian tragedy, she is the most well-known Dohnhoff of our days.
Current state:
After the war the place slowly became a ruine, nowadays the place is partially renovated and waits for the sign 'under new management'. You can have a look at the mansion freely and take a walk on the premises, admiring the 18 ha. park with oak-trees app. 400 years old. |
