 From 1518, Storkow Castle was pawned to the Bishops of Lebus as an episcopal residence.Upon the death of the last Catholic bishop in 1555, it was presented as a gift to the Hohenzollern margrave John of Brandenburg-Küstrin by King Ferdinand I of Bohemia and, together with neighbouring Beeskow, finally merged into the Brandenburg electorate upon John's death in 1571.Lower Sorbian was spoken by a significant proportion of the population until the early 17th century.