Avenues of the Manor House Complex in Zernikow

Gardens and parks

0 Ratings of 5 (0)

A place full of history and nature! ‘Zernikow - Close to Boberow Forest and Lake Huwenow lies another estate complex, which gained historical renown during Crown Prince Friedrich's stay in Rheinsberg’, writes Fontane in his “Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg”.

Zernikow Manor, Foto: Jannika Olesch, Lizenz: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V.
Avenue around the Zernikow estate, Foto: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V. , Lizenz: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V.
Avenue around the Zernikow estate, Foto: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V. , Lizenz: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V.
Miniature park, Foto: Jannika Olesch, Lizenz: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V.
Zernikow Manor, Foto: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V. , Lizenz: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V.
Zernikow Manor, Foto: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V. , Lizenz: Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V.

Zernikow is an example of an 18th century manorial field. While the former estate park was settled after 1945, the beautiful avenues have been preserved to this day. There were once fish ponds and animal enclosures in the extensive, now more woodland-like ‘Tiergarten’.

In nearby Rheinsberg Palace, Frederick the Great spent the happiest days of his life as crown prince. And he also left his mark on the Zernikow estate: shortly after his accession to the throne, Frederick II gave the estate to his valet de chambre and confidant Michael Gabriel Fredersdorff, who planted an impressive mulberry plantation with over 8,000 trees and a silk farmhouse. Fontane wrote favourably that Fredersdorff had turned ‘a clod of sand into a well-cultivated estate’.

The gardens and avenues from this period still characterise the image of the village today. 21 mulberry trees still exist on the Mulberry Alley, as do the manor house and the Silk House. The manor house houses an exhibition on the history of the village and silk cultivation, while the old distillery hosts changing art exhibitions. The historic garden hall serves as a wedding room in the Zernikow manor house, where the Gransee registry office organises marriages.

The Zernikow estate also offers a range of leisure activities: a small boules court is located between the manor house and the smithy, two donkeys can be petted and a scavenger hunt leads through the estate grounds. Another highlight is the ‘miniature park’: castles and manor houses in the region have been faithfully recreated on a scale of 1:25. They can be viewed between the old sheepfold, where the ‘Bric à Brac’ crêperie is located, and the old distillery.