Horse Breeding, Arts&Crafts and a Guest-House – Panker Estate

While just going home from our afternoon at a ostriches farm we came across about a place called Panker. My friend told me that in summer there is a music festival. The name is a little tricky because it’s pronounced ‘punker’. So the imagination is pretty different to what it is in reality.

After the third time we saw the sign I took the left turn to have a look. The signs were so insisting!

And my surprise was great! We drove athrough an alley, crossing a little bridge a beautiful estate was opening in front of us. A more idyllic place it could not be!

We looked for a parking place driving along a lane lined by old brick houses and amazing cottage gardens. The parking place is situated at the very edge of the ‘village’ and gives a look on open fields and the not so far Baltic Sea.


The old brick houses like fire brigade and private houses are today art and crafts houses. We were there on a late Monday afternoon and nearly all was closed.

Panker Design offers very interesting furniture painted in typical Scandinavian colors. Mike & Marco Tigen are painters as well. Here one can find original paintings and furniture with very interesting paintings.

Unfortunately closed was also Heidrun Reinhard who has a shop with clothes made of natural materials like merino, cotton, silk and linen. It looked great through the window! Who loves flowers and roses has found a perfect place here in Panker. Flora Magica is giving all what in an English garden has not to be missed!

The gallery for arts & crafts and design was open, we didn’t enter because they were closing. We just asked an information about the place. But the website is very interesting.

Beautiful clothes and really for people who love the difference one can find at Emma’s Textil Design Christine Schmidt. Her shop is in a house near to the lake. She has a nice bench outside where to sit – maybe for husbands waiting that the wife decides what to buy before it comes for him to pay….

Antiquities and more one can find at Hammerich – modern living.

There is a big pasture for horses. There were 3 dams and their foals. In the background the estate… like in one of these romantic English movies.

The estate has a breeding of Trakehner horses. It’s possible to admire these wonderful horses but also to have a ride on them or maybe going on a carriage. Who likes to learn by his own how to drive a horse-drawn carriage can do this here as well.

Some words about the history of this beautiful place: The place had already an estate in the Middle age but with no records. Later in the 14th century the family Rantzau, one of the most important old nobility of that time, bought the lands. They built around 1650 the inner part of the today estate.

1739 Frederik I, Lord of Hesse and King of Sweden, bought from the Rantzau family the estate and the surrounding lands. It was given with some other estates for his misbegotten sons. These became later Lords of Hessenstein.

One of the most famous descendant of these was Prince Frederik of Hesse who died in 1845 here in Panker.

The villa which we can see today was built around 1800. Today it’s part of the Hessian House Foundation and the villa is not open to the public because the family is still using it for living. The last occupant now is Donatus, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse.

We had a relaxing time at the lake which is bigger than I thought. We saw a lot of geese, some deer and that nice lake house. A romantic nice place especially in tepid summer eves.

On the way back we found out that the once barbican offers today not only the gallery of arts and crafts but also some apartments for holidays. Some people outside were loading their cars maybe for leaving a wonderful holiday time in Panker.

Another place were to stay for a wonderful relaxing time is the ‘Ole Liese’ Inn. It’s in part a hotel and in part a renominated restaurant. The restaurant offers typical cuisine of Schleswig-Holstein. The 20 rooms and suites of the hotel look amazing and cozy on their website. The costs are between 119 € and 209 € (depends by room or suite and season). In the winter time they have offers for weekenders.

We had a great afternoon here and stayed about another one and a half hour. Shops are closed on Monday otherwise I think it would have been more than two to three hours. It’s possible to hike in the woods and fields surrounding and being part of the estate.


Panker, Schleswig-Holstein/Germany:


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For further information:
Panker Estate (in German and Swedish)
Ole Liese (in German and Danish)
Panker Design (in German)
Flora Magica (in German)
Stilhaus Panker Torhaus (in German)
Textil design Christine Schmidt (in German)
Antiquities Hammerich (in German)
Horse breeding  (in German)
To learn to drive a horse-drawn carriage  (in German)


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2 Responses to Horse Breeding, Arts&Crafts and a Guest-House – Panker Estate

  1. Catherine Mashburn says:

    My husband and I lived about 5 miles from Panker in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The Apartment house, which is pictured, was, at the time, military housing for American Navy personnel stationed at Todendorf (not far from Panker) and another building, located next to the Mansion (where a prince used to live, and he and/or his family may still?) was also used to house Military families. We choose to live on the German economy in the nearby Baltic beach town called Hohenfelde. I visited Panker, often, though. Went back for a visit in 1994 and it was pretty much the same, however, the American’s are gone. We are from Washington State in the USA. So fun to see picture of it again. Their horses were beyond beautiful!

    • crumbs on travel says:

      Hi Catherine, thank you so much for your really very interesting comment! I loved that place as well and will for sure go again if I have any possibility. And yes, so far I know the prince still goes there from time to time and his private house is not open to public. Would be extremely interesting as well I think. I am glad you found my blog and I could awake nice memories in you!

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