Around 1800, the district administrator Peter Alexander von Itzenplitz had a manor house built overlooking Lake Groß Behnitz. In 1866, following years of poor management and mounting debts, the estate passed into the ownership of the Borsig family.

Under the direction of Albert Borsig, the manor house and its surrounding grounds were transformed into a model agricultural estate. Additional buildings were constructed, and farming was organised on an industrial scale. By 1923, the estate had grown to 2,700 hectares, where early forms of natural farming were already being practised.

The estate comprised the manor house, two distilleries, two tower buildings used for agricultural purposes, a blacksmith's workshop with adjoining stables and accommodation for estate workers.

In 1933, Ernst von Borsig Jr took over the estate from his father and continued to manage it until the end of the Second World War. During the war, he was a member of the Kreisau Circle, a German resistance group that met several times at the estate.