The Town Hall. Photograph taken in 1963
When the village was founded in the 13th century, this was where the settlement leader’s manor was located. It was his responsibility to make sure that administration was carried out in cases of lower jurisdiction, and involved numerous other privileges. In 1645, while Jork was under Swedish rule, Matthäus von Haren was appointed district administrator. It was he who had the additional transept building built in the grand style of the times, thereby giving the building the special T-shape we see today; the long house, that was used primarily for agricultural purposes, is now the entrance hall of the town hall. Farm animals would have been kept here in former times, and straw stored. The main building would chiefly have been used as living quarters; this is where the council offices are currently situated, including the Mayor’s.
Now make a mental jump into the twentieth century: The traditional fruit farm, with its additional livestock husbandry, had survived the Second World War unscathed, but prior to that it had not enjoyed adequate investment or modernisation. The then owner, Theodor Loheyde, was not in the best of health and had no direct heirs, which led to much of the land having to be sold, and the basic substance of the farm gradually deteriorated. When Theodor Loheyde died in 1963, his wife Ida’s nephew became the new owner. Part of the long house was in such disrepair that it had to be demolished. Eventually the building was no longer fit for habitation and Ida Loheyde built herself a small house east of the building, which has since been demolished as well. This meant that the Gräfenhof, once such an imposing building, was seriously threatened. In 1971 the parish of Jork bought the von Haren manor house, which was no longer habitable and falling into ruin, in order to renovate it and use it as the new town hall. What a stroke of luck that was!
The 21st June, 1980, was a very special day for the parish of Jork; it was the date on which the building underwent its new assignment as town hall. Since then, the Gräfenhof has served as a focal point at the centre of the parish.
