Saxon Palace (Kutno)

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Pałac Saski na planie Waltera.jpg

The Saxon Palace is a late baroque palace from 1750 in half-timbered construction in Kutno at 19 Marschall-Józef-Piłsudski-Platz and at 2 Gabriel-Narutowicz-Straße.

history

Construction of the palace and the Saxon times

In the middle of the 18th century, Kutno was connected to a new postal route, because King August III. changed in 1749 the previously used route from Dresden , including through Breslau to Warsaw , to the old medieval route on which Kutno lay. After changing the route from Dresden to Warsaw, the royal court needed new overnight and rest stops. It became necessary to set up new rest stops between Poznan and Warsaw, which were to be built in Kleczewo and Kutno. Above all, the new route should shorten the travel time through the areas outside of Saxony and the Republic of Poland. It led through Königsbrück, Berndorf, Hoyerswerda, Spremberg, Forst or Brody (first overnight stay), Gubin, Krosno, Gryżyna, Świebodzin (then the first Polish town), Międzyrzec (second overnight stay), Lewice, Pniewy, Bytyń, Lusowo, Poznań (third Overnight stay), Kostrzyn, Nekla, Września , Brudzewo, Mieczownica, Kleczew (fourth night), Sompolno, Ozorzyn, Luboniek, Głaznów, Kutno (fifth night), Bedlno, Kiernozia, Sochaczew , Leszno, Błonie, Warszawa .

On January 15, 1750, a contract was signed with the Samogetian manor Józef Franciszek Pac to provide the land necessary for the building of the palace for an annual payment "of 500 Tynfen in two dates from the Royal Majesty's casket" . Bettmeister Christhilff Gotlieb Hausius was appointed administrator of the palace.

Captain Johann Martin Walther (born 1712, died 1768) was entrusted with the design and construction of the palace. He had received a fee of 120 Thalers for the plans. The construction costs were around 5000–6000 Thaler. The wood for the construction came from the surrounding forests around Muchnów . Mostly German craftsmen were employed in the construction of the palace and the work was carried out very quickly, so that the palace was completed on April 21, 1750. JM Walther was the captain of the engineering corps, was supported by Heinrich von Brühl and was part of the staff of famous architects such as J. Ch. Knöffel, JH Schwarze, JZ Deybel, JD Jauch and CF Pöppelmann. The previously unpublished letters of recommendation from Heinrich von Brühl, which are in the Dresden Main State Archives, bear witness to this.

The palace was designed in the style of the Saxon Baroque, on the rectangular plan with two short wings, which were accentuated with risalits in the front wall and a risalite in the middle. The pediment of the central risalit was decorated with an imperial eagle, and a cartouche with the coat of arms of the Republic of Poland and royal initials was placed in the tympanum . Lukarnen and vases that decorate the tympanum are reminiscent of works by JH Schwarz, JZ Deybel or CF Pöppelmann. The whole thing was built as a half-timbered structure with visible frame work. In addition to the palace, two parallel outbuildings were built on the axes of the wings, all of which were covered with plaster. In the back of the square, wagon sheds were placed with a stable and kitchen with pantry and bread oven. A well was dug between the buildings. In the western part of the main building was the royal apartment, presumably with a cabinet, cloakroom and bedroom. Next to the apartment there was probably an anteroom and in the main hall there was a chapel.

The king and his court were in Kutno several times. Both Royal Majesties came for the first time on April 24, 1750 in the late morning, “when a salvo of small mortars was delivered on the arrival of the Royal Majesties. Her Royal Majesties stepped over the threshold of the newly built Palais [Interims Palais] and at 11:30 ate a meal; afterwards at 12:30 the Royal Majesties drove to Warsaw without spending the night in Kutno, where they arrived in good health at 10:45 pm ” .

The next visit was noted on October 8, 1750, when the royal family stayed here on their way back to Dresden. She was greeted by the primate Adam Ignacy Komorowski. The next royal visit was on August 31, 1752. A corresponding porcelain set was sent for the royal meal at the end of June. August III. used the palace together with his family and his court several times: on December 12, 1752, June 21 and December 17, 1754, on 26/27. October 1756 and on 25/26. April 1763.

In the years that followed, many modifications and renovations were made to the palace. Among other things, JM Walther received on June 18, 1752 a sum of 1903 Thalers for the completion of the buildings and the bridges and roads on the postal route through Greater Poland to Warsaw.

For further renovations, the sum of 454 Thalers was paid on February 13, 1753: “for changes that were carried out in our overnight accommodation in Kleczewo and Kutno” . The next work (from September 5, 1754) was carried out under the supervision of the building department in Warsaw and on the orders of the official director Johann Friedrich Knöbel, who received the money for further renovations on December 31, 1756.

After the death of August III. the Postpalais became the property of the city again, the detailed circumstances and conditions under which it came about are not known, because the legal situation is not yet regulated according to a document from 1778.

History of the palace after 1763

In the late 18th or early 19th century, new owners made some changes to the architecture of the palace. The west wing was lengthened and the corridors on the courtyard side were widened. At the beginning of the 19th century, the east wing was also extended by an outbuilding with two vaulted rooms and a hall. Another episode related to the Saxon dynasty comes from the time of the Warsaw Principality. The Saxon king and ruler of the Warsaw principality Friedrich August was in Kutno on November 18, 1807, but he stayed in the palace of the city owner W. Rzętkowski in Gierałty.

With this time Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in the Saxon palace, who stopped on December 11, 1812, accompanied by Marshal Armand de Caulaincourt on the retreat from Russia in Kutno. The emperor was received with lunch, and moved by the hospitality of the wife of the sub-prefect, he left Kutno. The French episode was so impressed on the memory of the residents that the building was called "Napoleon House" or "French House" in the interwar period.

In the next few years the grounds of the palace were divided into smaller plots. A map from 1826 already shows the house of the district governor (today the Kutno municipal office) on the site of the palace, and in the years 1843–1845 a town hall was built between the palace and the district governor's house, which is now the seat of the Kutno Regional Museum is.

In 1853, then called the “Saxon Palace” for the first time, the former royal real estate consisted of “a front house facing the Poznańska Street and the right wing to Nowy Rynek Street, with six smoking chimneys, covered with clapboard, as half-timbered houses built except for part of the right wing, the end of which was walled up. From the cattle shed with the woodshed by the right wing. From the wagon shed with the stable From the dividing fences. From the sewer with two seat boards. From the wagon shed with wooden shed and stable in the back in the courtyard next to the town hall buildings ” .

The last landlord of Kutno, Witold Mniewski, sold the property to the confectioner Antoni Herde for 6,000 rubles in 1866. In the following years the property was sold several times and divided into smaller pieces. From 1866 to 1937 the palace belonged to 12 owners.

History of the palace in the 20th century

In 1921 the palace was divided into two parts, and further divisions took place over the following years. Since the building changed hands several times, its interior was converted into shops, workshops and apartments. Often rebuilt, the palace lost its original character. It was renovated again in 1876 and 1879 (presumably attempts were made at the time to build a basement under the whole building), and the facades were adapted to the commercial purpose in 1932, 1937 and 1939 (new entrances and shop windows were broken through on the south and east sides). In 1927 the palace was on the monument list of the monument protector for the then Warsaw Voivodeship . The last construction work was carried out in 1939, creating entrances to two shops and windows on the side of today's Marshal Józef Piłsudski Square in the east wing. In the years 1940–1944, as the local witnesses reported, the gendarmerie had its seat in the west wing. The stable in the courtyard was converted into two prison cells. After the Second World War , the building was placed under a preservation order. On July 11, 1967, it was entered in the monument register. During these times the legal and usage situation of the building was changeable and complicated. In 1970, according to newspaper reports at the time, there was a possibility of renovating the monument. The monument preservation work could not be carried out at that time due to the complicated legal situation.

In December 1990 the city of Kutno bought the western part of the building. In July 1991 the part was handed over to the regional museum in Kutno for administration. Since 1995, great efforts have been made to acquire the remaining part of the property for the city. Since 2000, intensive attempts have been made to regulate the legal status, which was particularly important after the fire in the palace on January 19, 2003. In April 2004, the unburned rooms were rented to the Foundation Reconstruction of the Saxon Palace.

future

As of June 2, 2011, the entire palace has been owned by the city of Kutno. The president of the city commissioned the regional museum with the revitalization work. They started in March 2015 and are expected to end in 2019. According to the decision of the city authorities, the palace is to become the main part of a museum complex.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Main State Archive Dresden, Secret Cabinet Loc. 1326/6; The new postal route via Greater Poland to Warsaw in 1749, 1750. W. Henschel, Die Sächsische Baukunst des 18. Jahrhundert in Polen, Vol. I, Berlin 1967
  2. ^ Main State Archive Dresden, Oberhofmarschallamt, I No. 128, Königl. Journey from Dresden to Warsaw Ao. 1750 and return
  3. ↑ a b W. Hentschel, The Saxon Architecture of the 18th Century in Poland, Vol. I Berlin 1967, p. 314
  4. ^ Main State Archive Dresden, Secret Cabinet Loc. 3505/6, Polonica, Hofkassen- und Hofwirtschaftsangelektiven [from Poland], from December 1777 to April 1778
  5. ^ "Gazeta Warszawska", No. 93 of November 21, 1807; “Dodatek do Gazety Warszawskiej” p. 1424; “Friedrich August was again in Kutno, which was reported in the Gazeta Warszawska”, No. 5 of January 16, 1808, “Dodatek do Gazety Warszawskiej”, pp. 73–74
  6. ↑ A. Caulaincourt, “Memories from the Campaign to Moscow 1812”, Gdańsk 2006, pp. 399–400
  7. ↑ "Kutnauer Echo", No. 33 from 1937
  8. ↑ a b District Court in Kutno, land registers - mortgage files 417, call number 240-54 / 123-129, part I.

literature

  • E. Bergman, M. Barbasiewicz, J. Jarnajczyk “Kutno. Study historyczno-urbanistyczne “, Warszawa 1980, typescript in the archive of the Regional Museum in Kutno;
  • W. Hentschel, "The Saxon Architecture of the 18th Century in Poland", Vol. I Berlin 1967;
  • B. Krawczyk, "Królewski pałac podróżny w Kutnie (dzieje i architektura)", KZR, Vol. VI, Kutno 2002, pp. 11–40;
  • G. Majewska, “Architektura na tle rozwoju przestrzennego miasta” in “Kutno. Dzieje miasta “Ed. R. Rosin, Warszawa - Łódź 1984;
  • H. Siuder, “Pałac podróżny w Kutnie. Badania architektoniczne ”, PKZ 1990/1991, typescript in the archive of the Regional Museum in Kutno;
  • H. Siuder, “Pałac podróżny w Kutnie. Projekt koncepcyjny architektoniczny restauracji i adaptacji na Muzeum Regionalne “, Warszawa 1991;

Coordinates: 52 ° 13 ′ 58.2 ″  N , 19 ° 21 ′ 22.5 ″  E