Stāmeriena Palace ( lv, Stāmerienas muižas pils; german: Schloss Stomersee) is a palace built in

Historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...

style from 1835 to 1843 in the historical region of

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in n ...

, northern

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. Its first owner was Johann Gottlieb von Wolff (1756-1817) and subsequently his descendants. In 1905, during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, the manor was burned down, but was later renewed by Baron Boris von Wolff (1850-1917) in 1908. Although it was rebuilt in different style it is considered one of the brightest architectural achievements of his time in French

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style in Latvia. Stāmeriena palace was one of the few manors which were not nationalized after Latvian agrarian reforms in 1920s. So the von Wolff family continued to live there through the 1930s until 1939. The palace was presented as a gift to Andrei Pilar von Pilchau, the first - and homosexual - husband of the palace's owner Alexandra von Wolff-Stomersee. The Sicilian writer

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, 11th Prince of Lampedusa, 12th Duke of Palma, GE (; 23 December 1896 – 23 July 1957) was an Italian writer and the last Prince of Lampedusa. He is most famous for his only novel, ''Il Gattopardo'' (first publishe ...

lived in the Stāmeriena palace for a few years in the 1930s as he married the palace's owner Alexandra von Wolff-Stomersee (1894-1982) in 1932. After the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

technical school In the United States, a technical school is a type of two-year college that covers specialized fields such as business, finance, hospitality, tourism, construction, engineering, visual arts, information technology and community work. Associa ...

of agriculture was located in the palace. Later it was used as the administration building of the local state owned farm (

sovkhoz A sovkhoz ( rus, совхо́з, p=sɐfˈxos, a=ru-sovkhoz.ogg, abbreviated from ''советское хозяйство'', "sovetskoye khozyaystvo (sovkhoz)"; ) was a form of state-owned farm in the Soviet Union. It is usually contrasted wit ...

). After the 1992 palace stood empty for six years but in 1998 it became a private property and since then the palace and landscape park around it are being restored and are open to visitors.

References

External links

*
Stāmeriena Castle website
Palaces in Latvia Art Nouveau architecture in Latvia Art Nouveau houses Buildings and structures completed in 1908 Buildings and structures completed in 1843 Historicist architecture 1843 establishments in the Russian Empire Gulbene Municipality {{Latvia-castle-stub

See also

References

External links