Fischbach Castle (Silesia)

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Fischbach Castle, 2016

Fischbach Castle in today's Karpniki (Zamek Karpniki) is a neo-Gothic castle in the Tudor style . The moated castle is located eleven kilometers east of Jelenia Góra (Deer Mountain) at the foot of the Falkenberge .

history

Schaffgotsch coat of arms in the courtyard of the castle
Fischbach Castle around 1820 after a painting by Carl Theodor Mattis
Fischbach Castle - the former residence of the brother of the Prussian King,
" Die Gartenlaube " No. 49, 1900

As early as the Middle Ages, a castle belonging to the Dukes of Schweidnitz-Jauer was located on one of the two Falkenberge to protect the Hirschberg Valley ; it was first mentioned in 1364, destroyed in the second half of the 15th century and never rebuilt. In the following years a moated castle was built, which came into the possession of the von Schaffgotsch family in 1476 . Hans Schoff, called Gotsche, was the first owner of Fischbach. The castle and estate remained in the possession of this family until 1580.

From 1584 it was extensively expanded by Friedrich von Kanitz from Thallwitz . After a fire in 1593, Christoph Friedrich von Kanitz built the four-wing building with a tower in the Renaissance style. The preserved portal on the west wing dates from this time. In 1628 Friedrich von Winterfeld acquired the castle (see Ledebur). Further modifications in the Baroque style followed. From 1725 to 1774 it was again owned by the von Schaffgotsch family.

The castle was not renovated in 2009

In 1789 Schloss Fischbach was sold by the Prussian Minister of State Count Karl Georg von Hoym to Caspar Conrad von Zedlitz . In 1822 Prince Wilhelm of Prussia , brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. and Governor General of the Prussian Rhine provinces , new owner of Fischbach. Prince Wilhelm spent the warm season with his wife Marianne and their four children at Fischbach Castle, which developed into the social center of the Hirschberg Valley. The prince couple soon felt more comfortable here than in the capital Berlin with its protocol constraints and often stayed until the beginning of December. The king was also a frequent guest in Fischbach and from here he visited Field Marshal August Neidhardt von Gneisenau at Erdmannsdorf Castle . After his death, the king acquired Erdmannsdorf Castle in 1831 and had it rebuilt by Schinkel, and in 1839 the nearby Schildau Castle for his daughter Luise , Princess of the Netherlands.

The youngest daughter of the prince couple, Marie von Prussia , was confirmed in 1842 in the village church of Fischbach in the presence of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. And Queen Elisabeth Ludovika and their nephew, Crown Prince Maximilian of Bavaria . In October of the same year she married the Crown Prince and became Queen of Bavaria in 1848.

In 1844, Fischbach Castle was rebuilt to its current form based on a design by Friedrich August Stüler in the neo-Gothic style that emerged with the Romantic era . The rooms were much smaller and lower than the family's rooms in the Berlin City Palace, where the prince couple spent the winters and had to attend to their representative duties. Unlike in Berlin, the prince couple were able to set up their own taste here.

Interior views from 1852 have been preserved from almost all rooms in the castle. After the death of her parents - Prince Wilhelm died in 1851, his wife in 1846 - Princess Elisabeth had the rooms of Schloss Fischbach painted in watercolors as a memory. The princess had spent a large part of her childhood on Fischbach. The castle came to this family through Elisabeth's marriage to Prince Karl von Hessen-Darmstadt and remained in the ownership of the House of Hesse until 1945 .

In 1919 it was agreed between the People's State of Hesse and the former Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig that Fischbach Castle should become the private property of Ernst Ludwig as a box .

Darmstadt Madonna
Refurbished entrance portal

1943 decided Prince Ludwig of Hesse which Madonna by Hans Holbein the Younger of the impending air raids on Darmstadt to Fischbach Castle to bring in protection. In January 1945 the state curator Günther Grundmann was commissioned to bring the art treasures in Fischbach to safety from the approaching Russian troops. So the painting came back to Darmstadt via Coburg .

At the end of the Second World War in 1945, the castle was looted by soldiers. A primary school was located in the premises until 1950, and after a few years of vacancy, the building was used as a home for handicapped children from 1956. The decay of the castle led to the evacuation of the property in 1973. After years of vacancy, the city of Hirschberg sold it to investors with a plan to convert it into a cultural and recreational center. After several changes of ownership, the castle passed to a community of owners in 1995. Since then, numerous conservation measures have been taken to stop further deterioration. A professional restoration has so far failed due to a lack of financial resources.

After years of stagnation and isolation of the property from the public, there was another change of ownership, and restoration work has been carried out since 2009 with the aim of establishing an exclusive hotel in the castle rooms. Completion was originally supposed to be completed by the end of 2013. At the beginning of October 2014, the castle hotel finally opened its doors. Twenty rooms have been furnished in a stylish ambience in the historic premises, including a Royal Suite with paneling from the nineteenth century and a Renaissance suite with preserved paintings from the sixteenth century. While the interiors are reserved for hotel guests, the castle courtyard or the park can be viewed by visitors.

Castle Park

The castle park is a member of the garden culture trail on both sides of the Neisse . This improves the possibilities of care ( park seminars ) and the prospects for funding and tourist development.

literature

  • Hubertus Neuschäffer: Fischbach. The fate of a castle in Silesia . In: Silesia. Art, science, folklore , ISSN 0036-6153, vol. 34 (1989), pp. 213-220.
  • Irene Flemming: Fischbach in the Giant Mountains. A memory book. Hamelin 1998.
  • The valley of castles and gardens. The Hirschberg Valley in Silesia - a shared cultural heritage. Society for interregional cultural exchange eV, Berlin and Jelenia Góra 2003, ISBN 83-914131-0-1 .

Web links

Commons : Schloss Fischbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kulturwerk Schlesien - Schloss Fischbach (accessed on August 4, 2016)
  2. ^ Friedrich August Müller: Patriotic images in a history and description of the old castle festivals and knight castles of Prussia. First part, Glogau 1837, p. 424.
  3. ↑ Leopold v. Ledebur (Hrsg.): General archive for the history of the Prussian state. Second volume, Berlin / Posen / Bromberg 1830, p. 299.
  4. ↑ Silesia - Schlösser im Hirschberger Tal on mmaronde.de (PDF, 62 pages, 2007, p. 19 .; 2.9 MB)
  5. ↑ Fischbach Castle - History (accessed on August 4, 2016)
  6. ^ Agreement between the former Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, also representing the Grand Ducal House, and the State of Hesse, represented by the entire Ministry on May 6, 1919.
  7. ↑ infranken.de: The treasure was saved in Coburg
  8. ↑ onet.poznaj polskę: Zamek w Karpnikach otwarty po remoncie - w zamku Hohenzollernów powstał hotel ( Eng .: Karpniki Castle opens after renovation - Hohenzollern Castle became a hotel) , October 9, 2014
  9. ↑ Homepage garden culture path on both sides of the Neisse, members and cooperation partners , accessed on June 4, 2018

Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′ 47.5 "  N , 15 ° 50 ′ 59.8"  E