Finally! Finally, that´s all I have got to say! All this old ballast of small state and feudal rule is now being torn down. Yes, just get rid of it! Then there is finally room for something new here in the middle of the town of Varel. Since the end of the count's rule, large parts of the palace have been empty anyway. Some other are even completely dilapidated. In addition, parts of the palace have already burned down over the last 100 years. So a clean cut should now be made. Since 1856 Varel has got town privileges, which means it has a large degree of self-government. Above all, our economy is straightly improving. I think our cityscape should look like that! It needs a town hall and a proper building in which the court can move in, and ideally all of this around a central square, as befits a proper city!

The 1850s were a time of change for the town of Varel. In 1854, the rule of the Bentinck family came to an end and in 1856 Varel received the status of a privileged “second class town”, and two years later even that of a “first class town”, according to the increase in population and the expansion of local industry. With the end of the count's rule the question of the subsequent use of the remaining parts of the palace arose. Some official bodies, including the court for several years, had remained in the palace as a successor to the count's administration, but the structural condition was no longer the best and the rooms hardly met contemporary standards. In consultation with the Varel city director Klävemann, the Oldenburg senior building director Lasius planned a restructuring of the Varel center. At that time, monument protection issues played no role by that time, otherwise people would certainly have pushed for the preservation of the palace and its centuries-old building structure. So they were happy to have space for redesign. From 1860 onwards the palace was demolished, although this took some time. Ten years later, the place was finally ready for starting a redesign. The most striking building in this context is certainly the district court, which was completed in 1871. Architect Anton Klingenberg was awarded the contract for his design of a clearly structured brick building in the neo-Gothic style with ornamented elements. The 1870s were the heyday of so-called “historicism,” an architectural style that was consciously based on historical models. And the Middle Ages were considered particularly chic in these years, as they were believed a very successful national era in times of the founding of the 2nd German Empire. Following the model of the district court, other buildings were erected in Varel, for example the Catholic Church, the school on Osterstr. and last but not least the hospital.