History

Starting from the 13th century, the village was the property of the local knights. In the 14th century, there was a residence of Stanisław Czyrzyk. From the late 16th century onwards, the village was owned by the Brzeziński family. In the early 19th century, its ownership was transferred to Józef Dąmbski, and in 1809 to the Miączyński family. In the second half of the 19th century, the estate in Brzezie was purchased by a banker from Warsaw, Leopold Kronenberg, who erected a new palace in 1873. The park was designed and established by Walerian Kronenberg in 1889. After World War II, the estate was nationalised. In 1978, the palace underwent a full-scale renovation. Currently, it houses the School Complex in Brzezie and the Mutifunctional Educational Care Facility.

Description

The palace complex is located in the northern part of Brzezie, by Voivodeship Road No. 252. The complex comprises the palace, the park, two outbuildings, gate with a guardhouse, former house of the administrative staff and a stable. The palace was constructed in 1873 based on the design by Warsaw architect Artur Goebel in an eclectic style reminiscent of the French Renaissance. It is made of brick and partially covered with plaster. The main body is built on a rectangular floor plan, with its front façade facing north, and has two storeys with a residential attic and a basement. The roofs are hipped with intersecting ridges with decorative chimneys and dormer windows with semicircular top sections. The façades are made of brick, with the ground floor walls covered with plaster, and feature rustication in the corners and window surrounds. Cornices on corbels can be seen above the first-floor windows. The storeys are accentuated with decorative cornices. The front façade is asymmetrical with two avant-corps and a porch sheltering the main entrance. At the top of the window in the taller avant-corps, there is a cartouche with the Strugi coat of arms, which was awarded to the Kronenberg family in 1868. In the north-western corner, there is a winter garden. The west façade features an avant-corps and a cylindrical four-storey tower topped with a conical cupola in the south-western corner. The garden façade features a terrace with a metal balustrade and brick posts. The interior layout is comprised of two bays with remnants of stuccowork and flooring. Preserved elements of the original décor include the woodwork, a fireplace and a tile stove.

In the north-eastern part of the complex, there is the main entrance gate built in 1873, with rusticated posts and two screen walls with rusticated corners and blind windows. It is made of brick and partially covered with plaster. In the corners, there are overhanging neo-Gothic pinnacles topped with conical cupolas. The pavilion of the guard house, which bears resemblance to no particular style, adjoins the east wall on the inside. To the south-west of the palace, there is a one-storey outbuilding from the late 19th century, covered with a clipped-gable roof. Its shape is distorted by several extensions. Near the north-western edge of the park, there is an outbuilding called “Wilsonówka” from the late 19th century. It is made of brick and covered with plaster. The building has a rectangular floor plan and a single storey with a basement, as well as a central two-storey avant-corps topped with a tympanum with a round window. The ground floor is crowned with a plain frieze and cornice and covered with a hipped roof. The avant-corps is clad with a perpendicularly positioned gable roof. The outbuildings currently serve as residential buildings. The former utility buildings are situated near the southern boundary of the park. At present, the manor farm is traversed by Szkolna Street.

The park was designed and established by Walerian Kronenberg in 1889 in the winding landscape style. The path layout and the old trees are relatively well-preserved. The original compositional layout remains discernible but interrupted by self-sown vegetation. The entire complex is surrounded by a fence. The tree stand comprises deciduous species, e.g. the European ash, the black locust, the horse chestnut, the Norway maple, the European hornbeam, with a few specimens of the Norway spruce and the Scots pine

The palace is open to visitors upon prior arrangement. The other buildings can only be viewed from the outside. The park is open to the public.

Jacek Kuśmierski, 28.09.2015

Bibliography

• Chrzanowski T. (ed.), Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce. Vol. XI: Województwo bydgoskie, issue 18: Włocławek i okolice, Instytut Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warszawa 1988, pp. 119-120
• Omilanowska M., Polska: pałace i dwory, MUZA S.A., Warszawa, 2005, pp. 46-47