The Kamieniec Ząbkowicki Palace (, ) is a 19th-century monumental palace in the form of a medieval castle, located in the town of Kamieniec Ząbkowicki,

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

, in southwestern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It was designed by

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...

in the

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

architectural style and completed in 1872 under the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

History

The first owner of the Kamieniec Ząbkowicki Palace (then known as Schloss Kamenz) was

Princess Marianne of the Netherlands Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (''Wilhelmina Frederika Louise Charlotte Marianne''; 9 May 1810 – 29 May 1883) was the youngest child of King William I of the Netherlands and Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of th ...

, who in 1838, commissioned the construction of the palace to

. In 1848, construction works were halted due to Princess Marianne's divorce with Prince Albert of Prussia, only to be renewed in 1853. In 1858, the terrace gardens were designed by

Peter Joseph Lenné Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 1 ...

, the General Director of Prussian Parks. In 1873, and with the marriage of Albrecht's son, Princess Marianne granted Albert property rights. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

used the palace complex as a transit station for ransacked art works. After 1945, the interior of the palace was either looted or devastated by Red Army soldiers, with part of the

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

salvaged to construct the

Congress Hall Congress Hall, located in Philadelphia at the intersection of Chestnut and 6th Streets, served as the seat of the United States Congress from December 6, 1790, to May 14, 1800. During Congress Hall's duration as the capitol of the United State ...

at the

Palace of Culture and Science The Palace of Culture and Science (; abbreviated ''PKiN'') is a notable high-rise building in central Warsaw, Poland. With a total height of , it is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland (after the Varso Tower), the sixth talle ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Presently, successive renovation works since 2013, financed by the

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage () is a ministry within Polish government led by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage responsible for national heritage preservation and Polish culture promotion. Ministry oversees state o ...

have secured the property, opening the site to tourists.

Architecture

The Neo-Gothic palace is located on a hill, towering above the town of Kamieniec to the east. The rectangular complex 75.3 meters in length by 48.3 meters in width. The four corner towers are 33.6 meters in height. The cloistered

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

is approximately 19.5 by 18.2 meters. The palace itself is enclosed by a defensive wall with circular side

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

s and

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

s, giving it a medieval appearance. The large parkland features a Neoclassical

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

of the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...

family.

Gallery

File:2016 Pałac w Kamieńcu Ząbkowickim 05.jpg, Tower File:2016 Pałac w Kamieńcu Ząbkowickim 07.jpg, Cloister File:2016 Pałac w Kamieńcu Ząbkowickim 08.jpg, Main entrance File:Studnia na dziedzincu Pałacu w Kamieńcu Ząbkowickim.jpg, Neo-Gothic well File:Część pałacu w Kamieniu Ząbkowickim 17.jpg, Corridor File:Część pałacu w Kamieniu Ząbkowickim 01.jpg, Cloistered Courtyard

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamieniec Ząbkowicki Palace Palaces in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Gothic Revival architecture in Poland Karl Friedrich Schinkel buildings Ząbkowice Śląskie County