Kamenz Castle
Castle Kamenz is one, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in neo-Gothic executed style castle near the village Kamenz, today Kamieniec Ząbkowicki in Lower Silesia. It was intended as a rural residence for Princess Marianne of Prussia (1810–1883), a née Princess of Orange-Nassau, and her husband Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1809–1872). In 1838, three years before his death, Schinkel was commissioned by Princess Marianne to deliver a design. The castle was the largest and at the same time the last structure that was built according to Schinkel's plans.
Stylistic features
The design, which has been revised several times, is part of Karl Friedrich Schinkel's late work and represents a high point in his oeuvre. In April 1838, Schinkel visited the planned building site on a hill, the Harthaberg near Kamenz, and decided on a building in neo-Gothic shapes with towers offered a good view of the charming and extensive mountain landscape of the Sudetes . From a stylistic point of view, Schinkel was inspired by the north German brick Gothic , but also by English neo-Gothic . The building also shows allusions to Moorish-Sicilian castles. The dimensions of the building alone make the palace look representative. Its base is 88 meters in length, 61 in width, with a height of 25 meters in the main cornice . Four towers crowned with battlements form the corner pillars of the castle. There are two central projections each with turrets on the front and rear facade, and an open hall with pointed arch arcades in front of the entrance on the northeast side . Further arcades frame the inner courtyard. The castle is a brick building, the facades of which are clad with Silesian marble , sandstone and mica slate. Under the ledge there is a frieze made of ceramic material.
inside rooms
The approximately 100 rooms can be reached from the inner courtyard via closed arcades all around and were all covered with vaults . The great hall, which is located in the front risalit to the garden side, is remarkable. Further representative rooms are the pillarless dining room with wall paintings, which reproduce the remter of the Marienburg . Schinkel's student Ferdinand Martius (1811–1889) designed matching neo-Gothic furniture for these rooms .
Building history
On October 15, 1838 the foundation stone for the castle was laid in the presence of the architect and the prince couple. Schinkel's student Ferdinand Martius was appointed site manager in May 1838 and, after Schinkel's death, continued the construction with only minor changes to the design, despite the self-confident wishes of Princess Marianne. Construction work lasted, with a few interruptions, until 1873. The first crisis came in 1844 when Princess Marianne left her husband. In her absence, Prince Albrecht had started an extramarital liaison with her lady-in-waiting, Rosalie von Rauch . In 1853 the daughter of the Prussian Minister of War Gustav von Rauch, Countess von Hohenau, became the prince's second morganatic wife . The first construction stop took place during the March Revolution in 1848 . It was not until 1853, years after her divorce from Albrecht in 1849, that Marianne returned to her castle. There was another interruption in construction activity in 1866 as a result of the Austro-Prussian War . In the years between 1858 and 1868 a terrace garden designed by Peter Joseph Lenné was laid out. Another interruption took place in 1870/1871 during the Franco-German War . With the erection of a victory column with the well-known figure of the Greek goddess of victory Nike as a copy by Christian Daniel Rauch , the inauguration took place after 35 years in May 1873. At times up to 890 workers were employed on the construction site, the construction costs amounted to 971,692 thalers .
Garden area
Peter Joseph Lenné's plans for the garden in the hilly area began with a visit in the summer of 1858 to draw the first plans. In the same year, Princess Marianne approved the funds for the construction of the upper terrace. The plans provided for terraces connected by outside stairs , as they were already under construction as a model in the Potsdam Orangery Palace . The gardens of Italian villas were also the model here. In addition to small-format beds, the garden was equipped with colonnades, fountains in Gothic decor and a fountain with a basin on the lowest level. The special thing about the Lenné Garden was the inclusion of the hilly landscape with a wide view of the mountains. Pavilions and temples were given some higher points in the adjoining wildlife garden. The mausoleum was located in the upper part of the park and opened in 2018 as a revitalized one.
Apple variety Prince Albrecht of Prussia
In 1865, C. Braun, court gardener in the Prince's residence in Kamenz, discovered an apple variety from Prince Albrecht of Prussia as a seedling of Emperor Alexander and Baumann's Renette . This local Silesian variety was popular in this area at the time and suitable for growing in mountainous areas. It is also grown in Germany and Central Europe, where it is considered an old variety that is ideal for home gardens. In 1818 Adrian Diel , German doctor and founder of pomology , named a variety of Princess Marianne pear after Marianne von Oranien-Nassau , Prince Albrecht's mother.
Doom and Reconstruction
In 1945 the Red Army reached the castle after the withdrawal of the German Wehrmacht . In January 1946 the building, which had been intact until then, was set on fire by members of the Polish municipal administration. Years of looting and decay followed.
In 1985, on the private initiative of Włodzimierz Sobiech, lecturer at the Technical University in Poznań , restoration and reconstruction of the Kamenz Castle began. During this time it was made accessible to visitors; At times there were also some guest rooms. After Sobiech's death in August 2010, the costly conservation efforts were initially abandoned. The buildings and the interior of the facility were then no longer accessible to visitors.
After legal disputes with Sobiech's heirs, the castle came back into the possession of the municipality, which resumed repair work in 2013. The castle was still under construction in summer 2020.
Artistic classification
To this day, Karl Friedrich Schinkel's unusual design for Kamenz Castle has been overshadowed by scientific research and appreciation. In his late work, like the other projects that were not carried out, the building possesses a visionary power, comparable to his plans for the Orianda Palace on the Crimean peninsula in 1838 and for a royal palace on the Athens Acropolis in 1834.
literature
- Tomasz Torbus: The Kamenz Castle in Silesia (Kamieniec Zbkowicki). A forgotten late work by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. In: Castle Renaissance in Historicism. Eisenach 2007.
- Günter Grundmann: Silesia (Karl Friedrich Schinkel - life's work). Volume 3, Berlin 1941.
- State Museum of Silesia (ed.): 900 years of Kamenz, Kamieniec Ząbkowicki. Traces of German and Polish history. Goerlitz 1996.
Web links
- Website about Kamenz Castle with old pictures
- Schinkel, Martius and Kamenz Castle . In: Hans-Peter Schmidt (Ed.): Silesia and Prussia . 1st edition. Schweitzerhaus Verlag, Erkrath 2007, ISBN 978-3-939475-23-1 , p. 129 (176 p., Limited preview in Google Book search).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tomasz Torbus: The Castle of Kamenz in Silesia (Kamieniec Zabkowicki). A forgotten late work by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. In: Castle Renaissance in Historicism. Eisenach 2007, p. 81 ff.
- ↑ a b c Gert Streidt: Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Guide to his buildings. Volume II, Munich / Berlin 2008, p. 156 ff.
- ↑ Description of the interior on the website Documentation and Information Center for Silesian Regional Studies 2010 ( Memento of the original from November 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Gerhard Schiller: Short biography of Marianne von Oranien-Nassau. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In Greetings from Lomnitz , pp. 34–39. (PDF; 950 kB)
- ↑ Internet site about Schloss Kamenz with old images ( memento of the original from October 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ M. Winnik, Otwarcie zrewitalizowanego mauzoleum w Kamieńcu Ząbkowickim , October 13, 2018.
- ↑ Henryk Grzybowski: Grafschafter fruit or fruits that bear the name of Grafschafter nobles. In: Altheider Christmas letter. 2014, pp. 124–129.
- ↑ Kto pokocha zamek królewny Orańskiej?
- ↑ Pałac w Kamieńcu Ząbkowickim nadal bez właściciela
- ↑ Kamieniec Ząbkowicki
- ↑ Pałac w Kamieńcu Ząbkowickim: Otwarty i remontowany
Coordinates: 50 ° 31 '15 " N , 16 ° 52' 51" E