Discover Behrenhoff
Accommodation in Behrenhoff
Behrenhoff lies 12 km south of the university town of Greifswald. The village particularly appeals to travelers interested in rural architectural history and historic church art: farmworkers’ houses continue to shape the village’s appearance, while the village church brings together architectural history and paintings. There is also the history of a manor house that no longer exists. Behrenhoff thus offers a range of cultural themes, from medieval architecture to historic houses and the manor house’s past.
Village Church: Brick Gothic Architecture and Paintings
Behrenhoff Village Church is an example of North German Brick Gothic architecture. It was built between the late 13th century and 1415. Originally, it was a three-aisled, three-bay brick basilica with buttresses.
The paintings also vary according to their location within the church. The nave has an eight-part ribbed vault with ornamental paintings from the first half of the 14th century. The choir contains medieval wall paintings, which were uncovered in 1897. The information thus refers to paintings on the vault and wall paintings in the choir; the year 1897 refers to the uncovering of the choir paintings. Together with the construction period and the church’s original form, these offer several specific points of interest for exploring the village church.
Houses and the History of the Manor House
The farmworkers’ houses are a distinct focal point alongside the church. They were built in the 1860s by Count Carl Felix Woldemar von Behr and in the 1920s by Count Carl Friedrich Felix von Behr. Both periods are part of the architectural history of the houses, which continue to shape the village’s appearance. For travelers whose interests extend beyond medieval churches, this aspect of local history offers a different perspective: the focus is on the houses and their construction in two different decades.
Behrenhoff Manor no longer exists. It burned down on the night of May 8–9, 1945, and was subsequently demolished. Its history was nevertheless shaped by earlier events: during the Nazi era, lectures by the Protestant theologian and resistance fighter against Nazi terror Dietrich Bonhoeffer were held there under the auspices of Countess Mechthild Behr. From 1942, the manor house was also used to store works of art and cultural property from St. Mary’s Church in Greifswald. These details are part of the history of the vanished building, not of a manor house that still exists today. Those interested in local history can therefore consider the house’s historical role alongside buildings and paintings.
Depending on your interests, you can explore Behrenhoff through its village church, the farmworkers’ houses that continue to shape the village’s appearance, or the history of the manor house. For more destinations, you can also visit Dersekow, Wackerow, Dargelin, Mesekenhagen, Hinrichshagen, Neuenkirchen, Diedrichshagen and Weitenhagen.
For the broader travel overview: Amt Landhagen.
