Death in Downing Street - and a fabulous palace

Building site

We are in the former German Democratic Republic: Mecklenburg, the western part what is now the federal "Land", or State, of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MVP). Its State capital is Schwerin, scheduled to be visited by us in two days' time.

Today's Germany is a confederation of sixteen States, five of which were previously within the GDR. Most of the GDR's infrastructure was in poor condition in 1989, and a ambitious program of motorway building, road repairs and restoration of historic buildings is still in progress.

Driving in MVP involves the frequent negotiation of road works.


Downing Street

Let me now introduce - posthumously, of course - Johann Caspar von Bothmer, 1656-1732. He was head of the Hanoverian Chancery in London between 1720 and 1730. He had been resident in London since 1701 and had become the favourite confidant of Queen Anne. On her death without issue in 1714 he successfully lobbied for the accession of King George of Hanover to the UK's throne. Bothmer was a nobleman of the very highest rank: an Imperial Count tasked with governing the considerable German lands of the House of Hanover, now that its monarchy had moved to London.

He was well acquainted with Buckingham House and and Blenheim Palace, both ostentatious and massive, from the time of their construction. The Count had to content himself while in London with a more modest residence: the grace and favour home of 10 Downing Street. So he decided to create his own version of an ultra-modern English palace in Mecklenburg. (Today's Buckingham Palace is a much altered and extended version of the building which Bothmer knew.)

He died in the Downing Street house in 1732, and never lived to see the completed palace. The next resident was Sir Robert Walpole, and the house was thenceforward to be the residence of the UK's First Lord of the Admiralty. This post - and of course its salary - are those of the UK's Prime Minister, as the job of Prime Minister does not officially exist.


The palace: Schloss Bothmer

This is strategically located between Wismar and Luebeck, both important Baltic towns. It is MVP's largest palace complex; its parkland covers 7,800 hectares. The facade of the main building is almost 200 metres long. Yet if its exterior is impressive, it is equally warm and welcoming: the facade is built almost entirely of brick.

During the GDR period it served as a retirement home, suffering unsympathetic alterations and a total disregard of the need for maintenance. Schloss Bothmer is now state-owned and being restored to its original glory. The budget for the restoration work is 18.5 million euros.