Panker is a municipality in Plön county,

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

, Germany. The municipality of Panker includes the villages ''Darry'', ''Gadendorf'', ''Matzwitz'', ''Satjendorf'', ''Todendorf'' and Panker estate. The nearest city is Luetjenburg. Panker was first mentioned in 1433 as "Pankuren", a Slavic name.

Panker estate

The

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

Rantzau family owned this estate before it was sold to Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse and King of Sweden, in 1739. King Frederick I gave this and other estates to his illegitimate sons. The last surviving of these sons was

Frederick William von Hessenstein Frederick William, Prince von Hessenstein (17 March 1735, Stockholm — 27 July 1808, Panker), was a Swedish soldier and statesman. He was an extramarital son of King Frederick I of Sweden and his royal mistress Hedvig Taube. Biography King Gu ...

, governor-general of Swedish

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

and, since 1772, ''Prince af Hessenstein'' in Sweden. When he died in 1808 without progeny, the issue of King Frederick went extinct, and Panker was placed into a

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

in accordance with the Prince's testament. Accordingly, it passed to the Prince's first cousin once-removed,

Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel (, German and ; 19 December 1744 – 17 August 1836) was a cadet member of the house of Hesse-Kassel and a Danish general field marshal. Brought up with relatives at the Danish court, he spent most of his life in Den ...

, governor-general of

under Danish rule. Subsequent trustees included Charles' son and heir

Prince Frederik of Hesse Prince Frederik of Hesse, Landgrave Friedrich of Hesse-Cassel (24 May 1771 – 24 February 1845) was a Danish-German nobleman, general and Governor-general of Norway (1810–1813) and the same in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein (1836–1842 ...

, who died in Panker in 1845. Upon Frederik's death the Panker inheritance passed to the Rumpenheim lineage of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...

, half-Danish royalty.

Frederick Charles of Hesse Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (german: Friedrich Karl Ludwig Konstantin Prinz und Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel; fi, Fredrik Kaarle; 1 May 1868 – 28 May 1940), was the brother-in-law of the German Empe ...

, the elected king of Finland, a scion of that Hesse family branch, was born in Panker in 1868. The estate is located on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. The villa was built around 1800. Nowadays it belongs to the ''Hessian House Foundation'' and serves as residence of some family members of the Rumpenheim line of landgraves of Hesse. The castle is not open to public.

Villages in the municipality

Matzwitz

Matzwitz is a small village near the ''Landesstrasse 165''. Many barnyards, farms and ranches were built along the short road through Matzwitz.

Darry

A kindergarten, a voluntary fire department and an elementary school are in Darry.

Todendorf

A flak range is in Todendorf - it is an outpost of the military training area in Putlos.

Gadendorf

Gadendorf has a voluntary fire department.

Satjendorf

A voluntary fire department is in Satjenburg.

References

External links

Gemeinde PankerOrtsteil Gadendorf
Municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein Plön (district) {{Plön-geo-stub