Philippshof

The Philippshof is a former manor house in Putlitz, a small town in the Prignitz region of Brandenburg. It stands in gently rolling farmland where the Gans family once held wide estates. The house was founded in the late 16th century by Philipp Gans and carries his name. For generations it belonged to the Gans zu Putlitz family, who built their power on the land around Putlitz. The present brick manor was erected in 1895, replacing an earlier building.

The estate passed through different hands in the 19th century. After a brief ownership by Hilgendorf, the city of Putlitz sold it back to the Gans family in 1878 for 126,000 thalers. The manor remained in private hands until the Second World War. The last owner was Siegfried Gans zu Putlitz, a retired lieutenant-colonel. After the war the property was seized under Soviet land reform and became state property in the GDR. The manor was restored in 1995 and served as a primary school until 2005, when it was sold at auction.

Today the Philippshof is a protected monument. Its red-brick façade and slate roofs recall the late 19th century. Inside, classrooms and corridors still show the layout of the school that once filled the building. The surrounding park, though reduced, retains mature lime and maple trees. Visitors can walk past the manor and see the quiet courtyard where carriages once arrived. Beyond the gates the fields stretch out, giving a sense of the estate’s former scale.