The building bears testimony to the heyday of the prominent von Flemming family from Pomerania.

History

Since the 1980s, Buk belonged to the von Flemming family and was used as one of the main family’s seats. The manor house which has been preserved to this day was erected probably on the foundations of the former fifteenth-century building mentioned in the sources as “Brandhaus”. The building was adapted by Heinrich von Flemming for residential purposes in the early 16th century. The original components that have been preserved from the then manor house include stone basement walls and probably the walls of the ground floor, the usable level of which was located about 60 cm above the current one. Researchers found there traces of dirt and burnt material, and the threshold of a bricked-up passage from the hallway to one of the side rooms. The traces of bricked-up basement windows in the window sills on the ground floor of the western side façade also indicate that the original basements, which were probably already vaulted at that time, were higher than the reconstructed ones. In 1571, Richard, grandson of Heinrich, purchased 1,000 bricks for the extension of the manor house from Edward Flemming from Maciejewo; after the death of Richard in 1592, his son Kasper purchased 3,000 roof tiles in 1611. The last-mentioned date refers to the conduct of finishing works on the manor house, which was probably a two-storey building with a tall gable roof with jerkin heads at that time, as the picture from the 18th century suggests. The reconstruction in the Renaissance style involved lowering the basement vaults and the usable area of the ground floor to the current level. A pronounced avant-corps housing a kitchen adjoined the rear façade. The seat of nobility was surrounded by a moat, which was adapted for use as a garden. A church, the remains of a medieval castle and half-timbered house of the governor from 1969 were located near the manor. After 1770, in the times of Juliusz Fryderyk Wilhelm von Flemming from Maciejewo, the roof of the manor house was changed to a mansard roof. The façade of the then manor house were plastered with bright lime mortar, which contrasted with detail painted dark red. Probably as early as in the 18th century, the moat was backfilled, and its place was used as the location for an outbuilding or a kitchen, connected to the manor house with a connector running diagonally (on the north-eastern side of the complex). In the 19th century, a landscape park was established in the northern section of the complex. In the second half of this century, the roof tiles were replaced with slate cladding. Buk remained in the possession of the von Flemming family until 1945. The interior of the manor featured historic furnishings including a fireplace from 1633 and the fittings of the local church kept in the dining room. After World War 2, the manor was used by the local State Agricultural Farm (PGR). In 1979, ownership of the manor was transferred to the Provincial and Municipal Library in Szczecin. The reconstruction of the building undertaken by the branch of the Historical Monument Restoration Workshops in Szczecin began in 1981. Construction works lasting until 1991 were carried out according to a design by architect Alicja Tymczyszyn from the branch of the Historical Monument Restoration Workshops in Szczecin. The reconstruction included renovating the façade and interior of the building, replacing ceilings over the first floor, reinforcing and securing the roof truss, replacing the slate roof cladding with sheet metal, and building a side wing on the site formerly occupied by an outbuilding. The ground floor of the manor house included representative rooms, the first floor — a repository of books, and the side wing — hotel rooms. After reconstruction, the manor in Buk is used as a venue for cultural events (e.g. open-air events) and due the appropriate hotel facilities it is considered as a holiday resort and house of creative work.

Description

Today, Buk is a small village surrounded by forests and inhabited by only a few houses. The manor house is located on the north side of a rural road, at the bend of the road towards north; its front façade faces the south-east. In front of the building is a driveway and a large lawn with clumps of trees, including old oaks, chestnut trees, and young spruces. The historic landscape park stretches to the north of the manor, beyond its immediate surroundings, which was separated by a metal fence. A former churchyard which survived after the destruction of the church in 1945 is located to the west of the historic seat of the von Flemming family.

The Late Renaissance manor is built on a rectangular floor plan, connected to the new wing with a short connector, which is located perpendicularly to the rear façade from the north-east. The two-storey building with a basement was covered with a mansard roof with jerkin heads. It is built of brick and stone, and plastered, Its foundations and basement walls are made of stone, whereas the walls of the upper sections are built of brick and stone. The interiors of two lower storeys are topped with vaults: basements with barrel vaults, hallway on the ground floor with barrel vaults with lunettes, and the other rooms on the ground floor — with cloister vaults with lunettes. The rooms on the first floor are covered with massive ceilings dating from the post-war reconstruction. The roof is clad with diamond-shaped zinc-plated sheet metal imitating slate.

The front and side façades have retained quite vivid architectural detail, which is highlighted today with a dark brownish-red colour against the brighter background. The horizontal partitions include: plinth, on the front and side façades flat string-course cornice and crowning cornice — profiled on longer façades, with corbels to the front, and flat cornice — on the side façades. The corners of the building were accentuated by artistic rustication. The windows of the front façade and side façades are topped with segmental arches, framed by profiled surrounds and simple wide window sill cornices. The centre of a seven-axial and symmetrical front façade is accentuated by the main portal, moved slightly to the east. A strongly splayed opening topped with a round arch was framed with rustication and with narrow windows on both sides. The niche of the bricked-up window over the portal includes a hexagonal stone foundation plaque with an inscription, the date “1683”, and the coats of arms of Ernst Friedrich von Flemming and his wife; the plaque was founded in a different residence. The side façades have retained their three-axial structure, in spite of the fact that some of the openings feature niches or only window sill cornices. Both gables feature two small preserved openings, two other openings; now, they are bricked up and are visible from each side on the loft. The rear façade is devoid of articulation elements, with the exception of the rear entrance, small windows of the staircase, and bricked-up openings once connecting the main body to the non-existent avant-corps on the first floor level.

The tripartite interior of the manor features a partly one-bay layout with a pass-through hallway in the middle of the ground floor and first floor, and a large hall covering the entire eastern section of the ground floor; the building features a two-bay layout in the basements, western part of the ground floor, and both side sections of the first floor. The rear section of the hallway includes a staircase with two flights perpendicular to one another. Its massive and vaulted structure opens into the hallway with openings topped with semicircular arches. The entrance to the basement topped with a semicircular arch is located in the corner of the staircase. The western wall of the hallway features the remains of a fireplace. Now, according to the discovered traces, the walls of the hallway are painted dark brown and the vaults are separated from the walls with a beige strip — using white paint. Two square-shaped rooms are located on the western side of the hallway. The first one in the front suite of rooms is topped with a decorative cloister vault with a square panel in the middle. The walls and vaults were painted there in light brown, separating the two sections with a white strip. The adjacent interior of the rear suite of rooms is topped with a vault similar to that in the previous room, but devoid of the central panel. A Renaissance fireplace was reconstructed along the southern wall based on the preserved traces. The walls of this interior were painted sapphire and separated from the cream-colored ceiling with a light blue strip. A large representative room which occupies the depth of both bays is located on the eastern side of the hallway. The surface of the cloister vault with lunettes was divided there into decorative panels — round panels in the middle and square ones on the sides. The walls were painted white in the shade of light cream. Before 1945, a fireplace from 1633 was located at the place of the bricked-up window, along the eastern wall of the room. The first floor features the same layout as the ground floor. All rooms are covered there with ceilings.

Viewing of the structure is only possible by arrangement with the management of the library or the building administrator.

compiled by Maciej Słomiński, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Szczecin, 20-01-2015.

Bibliography

• Balcerzak T., Buk - dwór. Badania architektoniczne, Szczecin 1985, mps w WUOZ Szczecin i NID OT Szczecin
• Bronisch W., Ohle W., Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler der Provinz Pommern, Kreis Kammin-Land, Stettin 1939, s. 80-85, 125, 126
• Lemcke H., Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Regierungsbezirks Stettin, H. XII, Der Kreis Kammin, Stettin 1919, s. 294-299
• Loose H., Dwór w Buku. Dokumentacja historyczno-architektoniczna, Szczecin 1965, mpis. w WUOZ Szczecin
• Neuschäffer H., Schlösser und Herrenhäuser in Hinterpommern, Leer 1994, s. 59-61
• Zamki i rezydencje na Pomorzu - Schlösser und Herrenhäuser in Pommern, Szczecin 2006, s. 46-50
• Karta ewidencyjna zabytku architektury i budownictwa, opr. M. Słomiński, Szczecin 1998