Brynek Palace

Two towers with onion domes, a mansard roof and an attic crowned by figures of a hunter, a worker, a farmer and a fisherman – Brynek Palace is one of the grandest magnate residences in Upper Silesia. It owes its present eclectic form to Count Hugo II Henckel von Donnersmarck, who bought the estate in 1904 as the main seat of his branch of the family. Since 1946 the palace has served a forestry school, surrounded by a landscape park with a botanical garden.

History: from the Rosenthals to the Donnersmarcks

In the early 19th century the Brynek estate was bought by the Wrocław merchant Bernhard von Rosenthal, and the first palace was built here in 1829. In the second half of the century Otto von Rosenthal had it remodelled to plans by Karl Johann Lüdecke, adding wings in 1872. The last heir, Hugo von Rosenthal, died in 1889, leaving an infant daughter, and the sale of the estate was finalised in 1904.

The new owner was Count Hugo II Henckel von Donnersmarck of Siemianowice. A year later he carried out the last major rebuilding to a design by the Wrocław architect Karl Grosser, giving the palace an eclectic character dominated by Baroque elements. The farm buildings separating the palace area from the park also date from 1905. The Donnersmarcks stayed in Brynek until the Second World War, and the residence itself escaped war damage.

From Hitler Youth to forestry school

In 1945 the palace housed a Hitler Youth school, followed by a women's teacher-training college. In 1946 it became the seat of the Forestry Gymnasium, later turned into a forestry secondary and technical school. Today it is the boarding house of the Stanisław Morawski Forestry and Ecological Schools. Under communism the palace chapel was used as a shop; the secularised chapel was returned to the Church only in 1991.

What to see

• The façade with a portico on two Ionic columns, a cartouche with Hugo II's coat of arms above the first-floor window, and the attic with its four figures.
• The palace chapel in the west wing, topped by an onion dome with a lantern and linked to the palace by a gallery.
• The water tower with a clock from 1906 – its gateway leads from the farm area into the park.
• The landscape park, modelled on English gardens, with open glades and veteran oaks, limes, beeches and elms, as well as Douglas firs, eastern hemlocks and cypresses.
• The botanical garden in the eastern part of the park, laid out just after the war on 5 ha, with a rock garden, a peat bog, medicinal plants, ponds and pergolas.

Tripto tips

The palace is a working school boarding house, so it is best seen from outside on a walk through the park – allow 1–1.5 hours for the palace, park and botanical garden. The park stretches from east to west between the Tarnowskie Góry–Lubliniec road and the Stoła stream, with two gates on the road side. Combine the visit with other Donnersmarck residences nearby, such as Świerklaniec.