Palaces

Hatzfeldt Palace in Żmigród

Above the Barycz valley in Żmigród stretch the ruins of the residence of the Hatzfeldts, one of the wealthiest families of Silesia. The complex owes its present shape to the Baroque rebuild of 1706–1708, carried out by the Wrocław architect Christoph Hackner. The history of the site is older still: a stronghold was mentioned in 1296, and a stone castle stood here in the 14th century.

From castle to palace

The Hatzfeldt family demolished the fortifications and built a palace with the Chapel of St George in the 1680s; it burned down in 1689. Its Baroque successor had three wings and two storeys, and in 1762–1765 a classicist summer wing was added with the Great Hall crowned by a dome of red sheet zinc. In January 1945 the palace burned after the Red Army entered; the ruined southern wing was later dismantled.

The Trachenberg Protocol

The Great Hall entered European history: in October 1813 King Frederick William III of Prussia, Tsar Alexander I, Charles John Bernadotte and envoys of England and Austria met here. The arrangements, known as the Trachenberg Protocol, contributed to the defeat of Napoleon's armies at Leipzig.

The tower and practicalities

The oldest structure of the complex is the tower of 1560, named Sankt Maria Trauburg in 1668 — today it holds the Tourist Information, an exhibition and a viewing terrace. The ruins were secured in 2007–2008, and in 2012 a trellis was added, symbolically restoring the missing wing. A restaurant operates in the cellars, and an 18th-century English park with a Chinese pavilion and a pond stretches nearby. Entrance from Parkowa 1 Street; free parking.