Ogrodzieniec

Ogrodzieniec (in German: Neudeck) is a locality of the commune of Kisielice with approximately 300 inhabitants in old the Western Prussia and today in the Polish voïvodie of Warmie-Mazurie. The place is in the circle of Iława (in German Deutsch-Eylau) and is close to the main road of Iława with Kisielice (Freystadt). It is there that the country house of the president of German Reich was Paul von Hindenburg which died there on August 2nd, 1934.

History

Although Neudeck, name before 1945, sounds German, it probably comes from the Nejdekai old man-Prussian. The village was founded towards 1320 by noble of the name of Albrecht which accepted chapter of Pomesanien the privilege of institution. At the time of the war between the king of Poland Casimir IV and the teutonic Order, the village was destroyed completely in 1444 and, in 1543, counted nothing any more but two peasants.

First Hindenburg to be established there was the colonel Otto Friedrich von Hindenburg (deceased on January 10th, 1765) who went down from a noble family of Poméranie. For its merits in the wars of Silesia, it accepted Frederic II the Large one of the properties in Western Prussia: Neudeck and Limbsee (today: Limża). Otto Friedrich remained without children had as heiresses his/her sisters Sophie and Barbara. After the death of Barbara in 1778, the goods passed to its grandson Otto Gottfried von Beneckendorff, great-grandfather of the president of Reich, but in the condition which it would take again the name and the armorial bearings of Hindenburg. This privilege to him was granted on January 2nd, 1789 by the king Frederic-Guillaume II and the family members carried since the double name von Beneckendorff and von Hindenburg. Otto Gottfried at that time built the old woman gentilhommière of Neudeck, a construction on 2 floors with six attics with the upper floor.

After the death of Otto Gottfried in 1827, his/her son Otto Ludwig inherited the property. It transformed Neudeck into Majorat which it left in Albert, oldest of its four sons. The three younger brothers, whose last was Robert, father of Paul von Hindenburg, made a career of officer in the Prussian army. Albert married in 1830 wealthy heiress of the area of Eylau, Lina von Polenz auf Langenau (today Łęgowo). After their death Langenau returned to their son Günther and Neudeck to his Lina sister. She married Otto Ludwig (deceased in 1908), brother of Paul von Hindenburg. After the death of her husband, Lina remained single owner of Neudeck.

At the time of the 80ème birthday of the president of Reich Paul von Hindenburg, in 1927, the former imperial chamberlain Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau, which lived close to Neudeck and had militated in associations of veterans of war, launched a subscription to buy the property of Neudeck and to offer it to the president of Reich like gift of the German people. The operation succeeds and Paul von Hindenburg could take possession of the places in 1928. During the two years which followed it made increase the gentilhommière, which had from now on three stages with a mansard-roofed roof. Hindenburg never failed to go there each time its personal presence was not necessary to Berlin, it is there that took place a great number of important talks which influenced in a decisive way the destiny of German Reich.

After the death of Hindenburg it is his/her son, the lieutenant-general of army Oscar von Hindenburg (deceased in 1960), which inherited Neudeck. In 1945 the house was ransacked and set fire to by the Soviet troops and one completed to demolish the ruins towards 1950.

Bibliography (in German)

Heinrich Kneschke, Deutsches Adels-Lexicon , Band I., Leipzig 1846, Nachdruck, ISBN 3-487-04549-4
Hans Graf von Lehndorff, Ostpreußisches Tagebuch , München 1972 (Taschenausgabe 2003), ISBN 3-423-30094-9

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