Donnersmarck Mausoleum in Nakło Śląskie

On the north side of the neo-Romanesque church in Nakło Śląskie stands a small brick building on a Greek-cross plan, with a heraldic cartouche above the entrance. It is the family mausoleum of the Catholic line of the Henckel von Donnersmarcks, who owned Nakło from 1695 to 1945. Among those buried here is Count Lazarus IV (1835–1914), founder of the neighbouring church, together with his wife Maria.

History: the family that ruled Nakło for 250 years

The Donnersmarcks bought Nakło in 1695 and held it until 1945. The owners were the Catholic Bytom-Siemianowice line of the family. Around 1856 Count Hugo built a large manor here for his son Lazarus IV, who remodelled it in the 1890s in English neo-Gothic style — today it is a palace housing the Centre for Silesian Culture. Lazarus IV also funded the Church of the Sacred Heart, built in 1892–1894 to designs by Hugo Heer, an architect from Bytom working in Vienna; the count covered about 90% of the cost.

The mausoleum beside the church was intended for the Nakło branch of the family. Its construction date is given differently: some sources name 1889, while the date 1898 appears beneath the heraldic cartouche on the facade. Besides Lazarus IV and Maria von Schweinitz und Krein (1838–1914), memorial plaques inside commemorate family members who died outside Poland after 1945.

What to see

• The Greek-cross building with brick walls and an octagonal centre crowned by a lantern with a cross.
• The Donnersmarck coat-of-arms cartouche above the arched entrance, in a gable decorated with an arcaded frieze.
• The Church of the Sacred Heart right next door — neo-Romanesque with Byzantine touches, with a dome over an octagon set within a square.
• The former St Lazarus Institute of 1899, founded by the Donnersmarcks for orphans of miners from their pits.

Tripto tips

The mausoleum stands on parish grounds by the church; ask at the parish if you hope to see inside. Nakło Śląskie belongs to Świerklaniec municipality and borders Tarnowskie Góry to the west; national road 78 runs through the village, and there is a station on railway line 131. Fifteen minutes is enough for the mausoleum and church, so combine them with the Donnersmarck palace, which you can tour with a guide or on your own with a video guide.