Wroclaw City Palace

The Wroclaw City Palace, view from the north to the main courtyard and the central part, the former Palais Spätgen

South wing built by Friedrich August Stüler around 1845 , burned down in 1945

Legend (state before 1945):
1. Baroque central wing
2. Evangelical court church
3. South-west wing m. royal Zimmer (1945 aborted)
4. South wing (around 1845 by Stüler, burned down in 1945)
5. East pavilion (around 1845 von Stüler, burned down in 1945)
6. West pavilion (ditto)
7. Farm building
8. Northwest
wing 9. Northeast wing (expanded after 1945)

View of one of the apartments

The Wroclaw City Palace (Polish : Pałac Królewski "Royal Palace") was the Wroclaw residence of the Prussian Hohenzollern after 1750 . Today the building houses the Wroclaw City Museum (Muzeum Miejskie Wrocławia) .

history

The oldest part of the palace was built in 1719 as the residence of the episcopal court chancellor Heinrich Gottfried von Spätgen . When, after the First Silesian War until then to crown Bohemia is part of Silesia almost entirely of Prussia fell, the palace was in 1750 by King Friedrich II. Purchased and from 1751 to 1753 according to plans of the Berlin architect and building director Johann Bouman added to the south transept wings. The main courtyard was surrounded with low side wings, on the garden side the royal builder Carl Gotthard Langhans built a long, narrow southwest wing in 1796/97, which reached as far as the fortification on Palace Square (today Plac Wolności ). At the end of the wing, above the gateway of the cross street, was the royal bedroom and study, from which the king could direct the maneuvers of his soldiers or possibly the defense of the city.

In the castle, King Friedrich Wilhelm III donated. the Iron Cross on March 10, 1813 . With his “ appeal to my people ” he called from here to fight against Napoleon .

After the demolition of the city wall, the castle was in the style of the Italian Renaissance Revival rebuilt. From 1858 to 1868 the court of honor was rebuilt by Friedrich August Stüler . By demolishing neighboring houses, it was possible to erect large classicist side wings in the north and south-east, which formed a coherent unit with the central wing. Together with the city theater, the commandant's office, the courthouse and the authorities of the province of Silesia, the palace formed the main element of the Breslau Palace Square as a place of parades and a symbol of Prussia's power. The palace ensemble also includes the court church , which is located in the immediate vicinity but is structurally a separate building.

During the Weimar Republic , the castle was converted into a museum.

During the Second World War , the southern and southeastern wing of the building burned out. In the 1950s, the southwest wing, south wing, and southeast pavilion were demolished. Only the former farm building and the part next to it remained as a stump.

The area around the castle changed considerably after 1945. The two northern wings were framed by neighboring buildings on both sides. After the war, a breakthrough for a street was created through the block and the northeast wing was free. The facade of the north -west wing was divided into four windows towards the east-west street , the north-east wing was expanded from the original three windows to four and thus both wings were mirrored. In the north-east wing, however, the original column structure was retained after the third window, so that the original width of the facade is still clearly visible.

The central building, the former Palais Spätgen, was connected to the Stüler building by the south-west wing. This connecting wing was demolished after the war. This enabled the rear of the central part to be exposed again and the baroque garden to be restored. By demolishing the neighboring buildings, the eastern facade and the windows could also be exposed and restored. With this dismantling, the central building is presented on a large scale as it appeared when it was built. In the years 2010–2012, the castle was extensively renovated with funds from the city, the voivodeship and private donations. A number of interior rooms were also restored and restored. The south-west wing of Langhans is no longer being reconstructed because of the baroque garden, and the plans to restore the south wing and the east and west pavilions of Stüler are uncertain.