Palace in Ciepielowice: A Neoclassical Manor Residence in Poland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.8
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Poland
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- German, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Prussia
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Manor House
On this page8 sections
History
The Palace in Ciepielowice is a Neoclassical manor residence in Poland, built around 1800 by Franz Xaver von Biedau. Its plasterwork preserved the von Biedau family coat of arms, linking the building to its first known owner and the German noble families who shaped the estate’s history.
The Biedau and Ziegler-Klipphausen estates
In 1841, the estate passed to the noble Ziegler-Klipphausen family, which already owned the neighboring estate at Dambrau. Before 1894, both properties were purchased by the Pless line of the Hochberg family. The palace and its 349-hectare estate then formed part of the Dambrau lordship and were leased.
The Hochberg and Solms-Baruth period
The estate owner was the agriculturalist Konrad Eduard Reichsgraf von Hochberg, Freiherr zu Fürstenstein (1867–1934). His titles identify him as an imperial count and baron, and he also served as a reserve lieutenant in the elite Gardes du Corps regiment.
The estate was probably sold in 1920 to Hermann Franz Graf zu Solms-Baruth (1888–1961), a cavalry captain and Konrad von Hochberg’s brother-in-law, together with Hermann’s wife, Anna von Hochberg, Freiin zu Fürstenstein of the Pless line (1888–1966). The Solms-Dambrau-Scheppelwitz family retained possession until its expropriation in 1945. In 1941, the family lived in Breslau.
War, national change, and loss
The palace survived the Second World War largely intact. In 1945, the palace and the Scheppelwitz estate, along with most of Silesia, became part of Poland. The building has been protected as a historic monument since its registration under number 1010/65 on 7 May 1965.
A fire in 2015 destroyed the oldest western wing. It also consumed the cartouche that displayed the coats of arms of Hermann Franz zu Solms-Baruth and Anna von Hochberg, removing an important heraldic element associated with the palace’s last owners.
Remains
Main palace building
The palace is a two-storey, plastered brick building in the Neoclassical style, a revival of forms associated with ancient Greece and Rome. It is covered by a mansard roof, whose two slopes on each side include a steeper lower section and a shallower upper one, with dormer windows. The building is now ruinous.
The seven-bay west facade is organized with horizontal string courses, rusticated quoins, and festoons. At its center, the entrance has a segmental arch within a profiled frame. Two stucco coats of arms were placed above the doorway. A semicircular projection over the first-floor balcony doors once held a cartouche, an ornamental frame for heraldic arms, bearing the coats of arms of Hermann Franz zu Solms-Baruth and Anna von Hochberg. The 2015 fire destroyed this cartouche.
Interior and later additions
Inside, the palace retains a Neoclassical staircase, while groin vaults survive in the basement. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a side wing was added on the north side. Its staircase served as a connecting passage between the wing and the main building.
Manor complex
The palace forms part of a former manor complex that includes a granary and a park dating from the second half of the nineteenth century. Together, these elements preserve the physical setting of the estate associated with the palace’s successive noble owners.
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