Late mediaeval brick building (15th century)
The Papenhof is situated to the west of St. Mary’s Church and is considered to be one of the oldest preserved secular buildings between Rostock and Stralsund. It is a solid mediaeval two-storey brick building with an early modern half-timbered extension of the same size (1585), and both parts are covered by a shared hipped roof. The building contains many preserved historical details in its exterior structure and its richly appointed interior, making it a rare and authentic testimony to the original history of the building.
It is also an important building in the history of the region because records show that in the late 16th century Duke Bogislaw XIII gifted it to his senior district official, von Steding, to use as his official residence.
This mediaeval building type, consisting of a narrow solid brick building with a pitched roof, has hardly been researched and is an extremely rare example of the type. It can most readily be compared with the former Old School in Wismar, which was destroyed in the Second World War, and the former Latin school of St. Nikolas’ Church Stralsund.
The Papenhof is regarded as the only well-preserved mediaeval Kaland brotherhood building in Mecklenburg-Lower Pomerania, and it represents a link to the above buildings in the two World Heritage sites of Wismar and Stralsund. The Papenhof is an important architectural monument in the southern Baltic region.
