Chateau Zehdenick

In the year 1438, margrave Friedrich the Younger gave the chateau and town of Zehdenick as a fief to a son of Ludeke I, Hans III von Arnim, and his nephew Jaspar II. The endowment encompassed the villages Kleinmutz, Hammelspring, Hindenburg, Storckow, Krewelin and Wesendorf as well as other parts of nearby villages.

Lippold I von Arnim, mentioned the first time in 1486, died in 1525. In 1506 he sold Zehdenick to Bernd I von Arnim the Elder of the main line Gerswalde, which allowed Lippold to resettle in the archbishopric Magdeburg. There he acquired the manors Krüssau, Theeßen, Hohenseeden, Schattberge, Nieplitz, Webde, Brandenstein and Gladau. He became known as the ancestor of the so called 'Magdeburgian lines’ with the branches Gladau, Brandenstein and Krüssau. Among the Gladau branch are the houses Zehdenick, Blankenfelde and Bornsdorf and the branch of Neu-Seidwitz. Neu-Seidwitz, which has been first described in the new family history volumes, had been settling in Franconia south of Bayreuth but meanwhile ceased to exist. Part of the 'Magdeburgian lines’ were also the Brandenstein and Köckte houses.

Lippold I von Arnim, Tombstone in the church in Krüssau

Lippold I paid off his cousin and joint-owner of Zehdenick, Bernd II the Younger (documented reference 1470 - 1545), in cash. That allowed Bernd to acquire a large estate in Fredenwalde in the Uckermark, of which the manors Sperrenwalde, Sternhagen, Gollmitz, Götschendorf, Milmersdorf and Temmen were split off after 1545. The fief was granted in 1498. The branch Alt-Fredenwalde, founded by Bernd II, continues to live on in the branches and correspondent houses Milmersdorf, Götschendorf and Kraatz. Furthermore, part of Alt-Fredenwalde are the Falkenhagen, Groß Fredenwalde and Willmine houses.

The estate Zehdenick remained in the hands of the von Arnim dynasty for only 90 years. Hans VIII (documented reference 1501-1552) who owned Gerswalde, Zehdenick and parts of Biesenthal traded off Zehdenick against Boitzenburg in 1528, which then belonged to the family until expropriation in 1945. *5)

You can explore those branches and houses belonging to the main line Zehdenick on the page 'Family tree'.