Heinrich von Bülow (Grotekop)

Heinrich von Bülow was called Big Head (Grotekop) on account of his ancestral home at Castle Preensberg, some 10 km (6.2 mi) to the east of Wismar, close to the main trade route to Rostock, and located in a village now known as Benz.

Heinrich von Bülow first made his mark in 1383 when he invaded the little town of Wilsnack, as part of a vendetta in which he was engaged against the Bishop of Havelberg.

The destroyed strongholds included von Bülow’s main base at Castle Preensberg, and were presumably mostly Motte or Motte-and-bailey style fortifications.

His importance, by this time, in Mecklenburg’s power structure is apparent from the fact that together with his brother he is recorded as holding Plau am See as collateral in respect of a mortgage on Neustadt-Glewe and Dömitz.

He may already have been dead by 1395 in which case he would not have been able to purchase the freedom of his lord, Albrecht III, imprisoned by Queen Margaret of Denmark, as recorded in the Treaty of Helsingborg (1395).