Castles

Imperial Castle in Poznań

The Imperial Castle in Poznań is one of the youngest castles in Europe — and its story is full of paradoxes. Built in 1905–1910 for Wilhelm II, the last German emperor, to a design by Franz Schwechten shaped by the Kaiser's own sketches, it was handed over with the keys on 21 August 1910. The neo-Romanesque residence has a 75-metre tower, 585 rooms and a double imperial throne weighing 3.5 tonnes; construction cost 5 million marks and the first burgrave was Count Bogdan Hutten-Czapski.

The Byzantine-style Throne Hall is lined with eight statues of German emperors, the throne stands in the central archway niche, and on the rose courtyard works the Lions Fountain modelled on the Court of the Lions of the Alhambra. In the tower: a chapel designed by August Oetken; in the corridor: statues of Otto I and Frederick Barbarossa. After the war the castle survived demolition plans — it served as a POW camp and barracks, later as a city council seat and a Palace of Culture, and since 1979 it is a registered monument. Today it hosts the "Zamek" Centre of Culture with a concert hall, galleries and the museum of the Poznań June 1956 uprising.

Look for the Lions Fountain on the rose courtyard and the corridor with statues of Otto I and Frederick Barbarossa. A visit with the exhibition takes 1–2 hours; the castle stands on Św. Marcin street, the city's main axis, and combines with the Old Market Square into one walk.