The Villa Nordstern is a former grand residence on the Iltener Straße in

Lehrte Lehrte is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km east of Hanover. In the 19th century Lehrte was the most important railway junction in the former Kingdom of Hanover. As of the 21st ...

(formerly Ilten),

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was built for industrial magnate Hermann Manske in 1892. Since 1990 it has stood abandoned, although there have been a variety efforts to restore it as a historic monument or private development.

History

In 1892, the cement manufacturer and horse breeder Hermann Manske (1839–1918) had a home built in the village of Ilten, approximately 15 km east of the city of

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

. It served both as his residence and headquarters of his

portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th c ...

company, Alemannia H. Manske & Co. Manske also developed a successful stud farm and maintained large areas around the villa to support it. He named the villa after his famous stallion "Nordstern", which made considerable profits on English racetracks. This gray stallion is said to be buried in the park of the villa. After Manske's death, the villa passed through a variety of owners and was used as a children's home until about 1990. After that it became the property of the Hannover regional government. In 2004, the villa was in need of renovation and sold to a private individual. A new neighborhood called "Villa Nordstern" was built by developers around the villa.Stadt Lehrte, Planungsamt: Flächennutzungsplan Neuaufstellung – Begründung Teil A 2007, p. 91 „Wohnen Villa Nordstern�
PDF, 1,67 MB
/ref> In 2008, the city of Lehrte tried again to renovate the villa as an historical monument, but plans never materialized. The building remains in disrepair and the owner has filed multiple police reports regarding trespassing. Popular internet videos depict the villa as haunted in local lore. The villa was purchased by a new owner on September 1, 2018. Plans are to create condominiums and reserve part of space of the villa for a kindergarten.

References

External links

Bilder vom Inneren der Villa
(YouTube, 7:28 min) {{coord, 52.359743, 9.954515, display=title Houses completed in 1892 Buildings and structures in Hanover Region Villas in Germany