Schloss Meseberg

Schloss Meseberg is a Baroque castle 65 kilometres north of Berlin in Meseberg in Brandenburg, Germany which is the retreat of the Chancellor of Germany and the official state guest house of the German Federal Government. It is situated in an estate near the town of Gransee southeast of a lake known as the Huwenowsee.HistoryBuilt by the Wartensleben family in 1739 to replace a previous building on the site that had burnt down, the Schloss passed to the von der Gröben family in the second half of the century. In 1774, the property and adjacent land parcels were purchased by Prince Henry of Prussia, who resided in nearby Rheinsberg Palace, and one year later were gifted to his paramour, Christian Ludwig von Kaphengst (1740-1800). In this way Heinrich complied with the command of his brother, King Frederick II, to remove Kaphengst from the court at Rheinsberg. Kaphengst furnished and decorated the castle lavishly, commissioning ceiling frescoes from Bernhard Rode, including one depicting an apotheosis of Heinrich. The estate grew with the construction of additional buildings, including the stables. Under Kaphengst and his successors, the baroque garden was extended, and an English garden edging most of the lake shore was landscaped by Peter Joseph Lenné.