Migration stories around Steinort / Sztynort Castle

Steinort Castle in northern Masuria was the seat of the noble Lehndorff family until 1945. The last lord of the manor, Heinrich von Lehndorff, was one of the conspirators of July 20, 1944. The stories tell of the fate of the East Prussian noble family and of inhabitants of the village, which is called Sztynort today. Others describe the lives and work of German and Polish enthusiasts who are bringing the decaying manor house back to life. 17 biographical texts tell of expulsion and new beginnings, human tragedies and awakenings in this fascinating, multi-ethnic region.

Introduction

About the fate of the noble family Lehndorff-Steinort

Background Article
Antje Vollmer
“Double Life” – following the footsteps of Heinrich and Gottliebe von Lehndorff
She is known as a Green Party politician and for her longstanding role as Vice President of the German Bundestag. After retiring in 2005, she became a freelance author. Her first book project “Doppelleben” (Double Life) tells the story of Heinrich von Lehndorff, one of the conspirators of the...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Biographical Portrait
The Four Lehndorff Daughters
A lost childhood and new worlds
"I lost my home," Vera von Lehndorff once said, "but lost childhood is a better description." When her father was executed on September 4, 1944, she was five years old. Her sister Eleonore, "Nona," was six and a half, and Gabriele was two. Catharina was only 19 days old; she was born in the Torgau...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Biographical Portrait
Verus von Plotho
A grandson discovers his grandparents – and Masuria
"There was no culture of remembrance in my family," says Verus von Plotho. He grew up in a cosmopolitan world. He was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1969 and grew up in Munich. His mother is Gabriele Freifrau von Plotho, the third daughter of Heinrich and Gottliebe von Lehndorff. There was hardly any...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Podcast
Hanna Schygulla
My friend Gottliebe Lehndorff
The actor Hanna Schygulla was 30 years old when she first met Gottliebe von Lehndorff in 1973. The scene of the encounter: the artists' colony in the old Peterskirchen vicarage, east of Munich. They lived there for thirteen years, their apartments backing onto each other. Despite their age...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern

Life stories from the village Steinort/Sztynort

Biographical Portrait
Maria Zarębska
Family roots in Sztynort
When Maria Zarębska was born, in July 1948, the village of Sztynort was still scarred by war. A few Masurian families had remained living there, but most of the inhabitants – like Maria's parents – were newcomers. Everyone was struggling to survive, to get along with each other, to find their...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Biographical Portrait
Stefan Tymiec Junior
A childhood home in Steinort and the long road to the West
Stefan Tymiec was born in Sztynort in July 1950. “I had a happy childhood”, he says. He hardly felt anything of the tragedies that his parents had lived through. His mother was German and remained in her homeland in 1945. His father was Ukrainian, one of many people who had been forcibly...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Background Article
Agata, Dorota, Iwona, Jolanta
The kindergarten in the Pałac – memories of a little paradise
"What luck that we had this kindergarten!" All four say. That was in the early 1970s. Agata and Jolanta now live in Germany, Dorota and Iwona have stayed in Masuria. Lehndorff Castle, the "Pałac", was a place they all felt happy. In those stately rooms they had a feeling of security and comfort,...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Biographical Portrait
Eva Anna Therese Puschke
The last of a dynasty of teachers
As far back as the 19th century, the Puschke family worked as teachers in Steinort and in the neighboring church village of Rosengarten. They played an important role in village life and had close ties to the noble Lehndorff family. The last teacher of the dynasty was Eva Puschke, a "lay teacher" in...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern

Steinort Castle - A magical place in Europe

Bettina Bouresh
New life for Steinort Palace and an unexpected homecoming
Biographical Portrait
"I’m a typical post-war child," says Bettina Bouresh. Born in 1950, she grew up burdened with German guilt and the traumas of her mother's family, who had lived in Allenstein until 1945. She herself felt homeless for a long time. Until one day she found her place: in Masuria. Here she found a home...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Wolfram Jäger
A professor in overalls. The Steinort Palace construction site
Biographical Portrait
One day, Wolfram Jäger heard on the radio about the catastrophic condition of Lehndorff Palace. The well-known specialist in the restoration of historic buildings had recently completed a major project for UNESCO in Barcelona and immediately made his way to Masuria. In the spring of 2011, he made a...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Hannah Wadle
Social anthropologist and cultural activist. Telling the story of Steinort together – an experiment
Biographical Portrait
In 2009, Hannah Wadle settled in Sztynort to do research for her doctoral thesis – and stayed for a whole year. Gradually, her cautious explorations turned into familiarity and what began as a purely academic interest became a dedicated personal commitment to the town and its people. She learned...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern

Marek Makowski and Piotr Wagner
Harbor, village and palace – a tangible vision
Biographical Portrait
Two passionate sailors, raised in Giżycko, not far from Sztynort. Marek Makowski (b.1984) and Piotr Wagner (b.1986) left at a young age, took advantage of the opportunities on offer in a united Europe and later returned to the world they grew up in. Marek, an entrepreneur and owner of a sailing...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Wenzel
A Poet’s homage to Heinrich and Gottliebe von Lehndorff
Podcast
Hans-Eckardt Wenzel, or "Wenzel" as he calls himself, is a poet and singer with Bohemian roots, born in Wittenberg in 1955. In GDR times, he studied farewell letters of young communists who lost their lives in the resistance against Hitler. Through his friendship with Antje Vollmer, he became...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern

Migration of things

Object Story
The Odyssey of a Rococo dresser
What became of the interior of Steinort Palace
For more than 150 years, the Rococo dresser stood on the upper floor of the Steinort castle, in the so-called "Simson room". It bears witness to the lifestyle of an East Prussian noble family. Behind it lies an adventurous journey that began after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler on July...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Object Story
The linen dresser
and other everyday objects that survived
A simple chest of drawers, which came from the Steinort manor house, probably from the servants' quarters. In 1945 it was still quite new, made of pine, unpainted. Ten years ago, an old gentleman donated it to the Museum of Folklore in Węgorzewo, formerly Angerburg, along with other things he had...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Background Article
The Lehndorff Hunting Lodge
A place of German-Polish friendship
This charming wooden building was once the hunting lodge of the Lehndorff counts. Here they would gather after the great hunts to feast and celebrate together. Later, the building was leased to an innkeeper. After 1945 it was used as a storehouse, and for a while it served as a village store. It...
Ulla Lauchauer | Agata Kern
Object Story
Papierówki – “Paper Apples”
The journey of an old apple variety
A summer apple. The first to ripen. In Polish, it is called "papierówka", in German "Papierapfel" (paper apple). It once grew almost everywhere in Masuria and Warmia, including in the garden of Stefan Tymiec's grandmother, Gertrud. "It smelled and tasted delicious," he remembers. "And that yellow!"...