Teupitz probably arose from a medieval
Slavic settlement during the
Ostsiedlung of
German peasants and craftsmen. A
Tupcz fortification was first mentioned in a 1307 deed, issued by Margrave
Herman of Brandenburg at
Spandau. The
Ascanian rulers of
Margraviate of Brandenburg had just acquired the estates in the former
March of Lusatia from Margrave
Dietrich IV of Wettin. (1813-1897) The castle, located on a peninsula, from about 1330 served as a seat of the Schenk von
Landsberg noble family. In 1411 one Albert
Schenk von Landsberg, Lord of Teupitz and of
Seyda in
Saxe-Wittenberg, served as the
Saxon representative at the (second)
election of King
Sigismund. The dynasty flourished for about four centuries until its extinction in 1721, leaving the local
water castle as well as further residences in
Königs Wusterhausen and
Groß Leuthen. They also had the
Brick Gothic Holy Ghost parish church erected and in 1437 on their own authority elevated Teupitz to the status of a town. From 1717 the remnants of the castle were acquired by the
Prussian state and served as the seat of the local
Prussian Amt administration until 1812, when it was purchased as a private
Rittergut manor. The town privileges were acknowledged in the 1808
Prussian reforms and a town hall was erected in 1830. After
Theodor Fontane had published his
Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg travelogue in 1880, Teupitz due to its picturesque setting became a popular destination for daytrippers from the Berlin agglomeration. In 1910 the Prussian
Province of Brandenburg opened a
sanatorium and in 1930 the former castle was again rebuilt as a hotel, which after
World War II was used as a recreation centre by the
East German Communist Party (SED). ==Politics==