Palaces

Palace in Krowiarki

A tower-ringed residence near Racibórz, known as the pearl of the Racibórz Land, ranks among the largest palaces of Upper Silesia: it offers about 4,000 square metres of floor space, 115 rooms and 30 cellars forming a labyrinth. Today it is a building site in the best sense — since 2007 the new owner has been restoring the monument step by step.

From manor to palace

A wooden manor was mentioned in 1678, although the von Beess family had held Krowiarki since 1564. In 1826 Ernest Joachim Strachwitz erected a brick palace, and the remodelling of 1852–1877 shaped the residence and the park. The older parts were kept in Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque style, while after the fire of 1892 the newer wing acquired its Art Nouveau character. In 1856 Wanda von Gaschin married Hugo II Henckel von Donnersmarck, and the palace passed to that powerful family.

Salons and towers

Inside, salons with evocative names have survived: the white, Moorish and fairy-tale rooms, decorated with paintings, sculptures and gilding. Square towers with tent roofs in two corners and cylindrical turrets give the building a castle-like air.

Park and today

An English park laid out in the 19th century surrounds the palace, with trees brought from England; in the south-eastern corner stands a classicist mausoleum from around 1870. After the war the building housed a school, an orphanage and a hospital, and from the 1970s it fell into decay. In 2020 the entire roof was replaced, securing the interiors; visits are sometimes possible after prior arrangement.