Landhaus "Waldtraut" - A witch's house in Finkenkrug

The "Neu-Finkenkrug" colony was established in 1892 on the Seegefeld manor. The last owner of the manor and founder of the "Neu-Finkenkrug" villa colony, Bernhard Ehlers, sold most of his property to the German Settlement Bank in 1898, which continued the development of the colony. The "Neu-Finkenkrug Terrain-Aktiengesellschaft", founded in 1909, followed the German settlement bank.

It was not until 1927 that the area of ​​the former manor was incorporated into Falkensee.

In 1900, the merchant Alexander Steinmetz from Berlin acquired a 16,000 square meter property on Poetenweg in Neu-Finkenkrug from the German settlement bank. Here, with the "Rosengarten", he realized his dream of a country estate, far away from the great metropolis of Berlin.

A first development took place in 1901 with the villa "Storchennest".

In 1903, the "New Birkenhaus" and the "New Parkhaus" were added, which in an extension drawing from 1904 bears the name "Landhaus Waldtraut". The three summer houses were embedded in a park-like landscape with paths, beds, lawns and a small lake area.

The appearance of all three houses is unusual. They are characterized by towers, gables and the great wealth of detail of Art Nouveau.

The owners of the property changed frequently, which ultimately led to the entire area being subdivided.

In the times of the GDR, all houses were used as residential buildings, even if only sporadically.

The "Landhaus Waldtraut", popularly known as the witch's house, stood empty for several years after 1990. It was becoming increasingly neglected.

In October 1999 the association "Hexenhaus Finkenkrug e.V." was founded.

By collecting donations and organizing the first minor security measures on the building, he tried to counteract the decay. However, it was not until the purchase of the country house "Waldtraut" by a private buyer in 2006 and 2007 that renovation in line with the requirements of a monument was possible.

All three summer houses from the early years have been preserved.

The witch's house is still the most striking of these summer houses and has been used for gastronomic purposes since 2009.

The "Landhaus Waldtraut" is on the list of monuments of the state of Brandenburg and the existing ponds are a biotope that is particularly worthy of protection according to the Federal Nature Conservation Act.