Donnersmarck Hunting Lodge in Kalety-Zielona

From 18 to 20 November 1900, Emperor Wilhelm II himself shot pheasants in the forests around Zielona, and the hunts started and ended at Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck's hunting lodge. After the war, foresters' workshops reduced the building to a ruin, but in 2020 a new owner bought it and restored the façades and roof. Today the yellow lodge by the Zielona reservoir is once again one of the landmarks of Kalety.

History: a palace for the hunt

The hunting lodge was built in 1860–1861 for Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck (1830–1916), who also owned the cellulose and paper factory in Kalety. It was set in a park and linked by a special road to the family's main residence in Świerklaniec. A pond dating from the Middle Ages was incorporated into the park. The surrounding game preserve – an enclosed hunting ground of 6,000 ha covering several forest districts – teemed with game: in 1914 it held about 450 red deer, as well as fallow deer and wild boar.

Outside the hunting season the count's officials lived in the lodge; in season it hosted individual hunters or small parties. During large group hunts the lodge was where the hunt began and ended, with lively celebrations. During his visit Wilhelm II signed the guest book at a nearby inn, and the lodge remained busy between the wars.

War, workshops and ruin

During the Second World War the Germans quartered a Ukrainian SS unit in the lodge while removing the more valuable furnishings. After the war the estate was nationalised and became a base of the Forest Transport Centre, with offices, metal and carpentry workshops and a dormitory. Five-tonne lathes were installed on the ground floor, destroying the floors. The base closed at the end of 1991, and when the lodge was entered in the heritage register, it was found to be 70 per cent destroyed.

A new life

In July 2020 Kalety Town Hall announced that the owner of the NaturDay company had bought the lodge and its grounds. By late summer 2021 work on the façades and roof was completed, and the restored building was shown to residents on an evening when candles were lit in the windows and by the entrance.

What to see

• The seven-bay façade with a three-bay central projection one storey higher, and a terrace with an iron balustrade on pillars above the entrance.
• Walls of brick and limestone, restored in 2020–2021.
• The Zielona reservoir with its holiday centres and the "To the Beavers" nature trail.

Tripto tips

The lodge is at ul. 30-lecia 80 in Zielona, a district of Kalety separated from the town centre by about 5 km of forest. According to the regional tourist information, it can only be viewed from outside, so a short stop of 15–20 minutes is enough. Combine it with a walk by the Zielona reservoir and, in summer, a stay at one of the holiday centres there.