The Remplin Palace is located in the town of Remplin which during the time of the monarchy was located in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Before being brought by the Grand Ducal Family in 1852 the Palace and estate was owned by a number noble families; the von Wozenitz, the von Schnakenburg’s and most notably the von Hahn’s. In about 1792 Count Friedrich II von Hahn, whose family were the owners from 1405 to 1816, erected Mecklenburg’s first observatory on the southern edge of the park which was also at one point the third largest observatory outside of Great Britain.
The Remplin Palace got its first royal owner in 1816 when it was brought by Georg Wilhelm the reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe who retained the property until 1848 when it was sold to Baron Karl von Maltzahn. The estate was brought in 1851 by Duke Georg and his wife Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna of Russia who resided in Russia but used this as their residence when on visits to Mecklenburg. Duke Georg and his wife made extensive alterations to the palace and the park which in 1860 they had transformed from a baroque style park into a landscape one. With the death of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna in 1894 her younger son Duke Carl Michael inherited the estate.
After members of the Russian branch of the Grand Ducal Family were forced to leave that country in 1919 and having seen other properties in Germany expropriated, in 1922 Duke Georg (then Count of Carlow) and his young family moved into the palace joined by his aunt Duchess Helene and then in 1930 by his uncle Duke Carl Michael.
Duke Georg, who inherited the estate in 1934 after the death of his uncle, suffered persecution at the hands of the Nazis and was forced under the threat of expropriation to sell off his land holdings, which consisted of forests and fields, to the state for a nominal price having already been banned from being able to take and sell wood from the forests. As such by the time the Second World War broke out all that remained under his ownership was the Palace itself and about 30 hectares of land around it.
Duke Georg and his family were forced out of Remplin altogether when during the night of 10 to 11 April 1940 the palace was largely destroyed in a fire instigated by Friedrich Hildebrandt the local Nazi Gauleiter. Having lost their home the Gauleiter forced the Duke to sell everything to the state for a minimal price of 26,000 marks although suggested that afterwards they would discuss the estate of the late Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich VI, which amounted to around 6 Million marks, to give him the opportunity to buy another residence in Mecklenburg. The Weisdin Palace, located near to Neustrelitz, was identified as a suitable property however the purchase never went through as the Gauleiter instead forced Duke Georg to leave Mecklenburg with the family taking up residence in Berlin.
In 2004 the Grand Ducal Family completed the restitution process with the state which had been ongoing since 1990 and regained ownership of some land and buildings in Remplin including the badly damaged North wing of the palace. With the extensive cost of restoration work being well beyond the private means available, the Remplin Palace was sold by auction in March 2019.