He had a water basin erected atop a hill north of the park in order to supply the fountain system, which ultimately failed due to lack of expertise.

From about 1750 the Bornstedt fields were used as a proving ground of the Prussian Army, much to the chagrin of local cotters, until King Frederick William IV after his accession to the throne in 1840 repurchased the estates.

The court architect Ferdinand von Arnim built a Norman tower atop Ruinenberg hill and had the Bornstedt manor house and church redesigned in an Italian style according to plans by Friedrich Ludwig Persius.

The Princess Royal continued the agricultural business as a model farm, she had the manor rebuilt and her son Wilhelm II attended the Bornstedt village school.

After World War II, the military facilities were used by the Soviet Army until 1993, today many buildings belong to the Fachhochschule Potsdam college campus.