The palace is accompanied by neoclassical buildings constructed at the same time: a residential outbuilding and a stable. The residence is surrounded by a landscape park. In 1920, the complex was purchased by the writer Władysław Stanisław Reymont — a laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The palace in Kołaczkowo was visited by well-known writers and politicians. Currently, the palace houses a memorial exhibition room dedicated to Reymont, among other things. There is a statue of the writer in the park.

History

Kołaczkowo was mentioned in written records for the first time in 1310. It was a nobility-owned village. In the Middle Ages, it was owned by the Awdaniec family. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Kołaczkowo belonged to the Kołaczkowski family of the Abdank coat of arms. In the early 16th century, the estate was purchased by Dobrogost Jezierski, a courtier of the Górka family. In 1538, Kołaczkowo became the property of Łukasz Górka, who was later appointed Bishop of Wrocław. Subsequently, the village was owned by the Zajączek family, and in the 18th century — consecutively — by the Sokolnickis, the Stablewskis, and the Dąmbskis of the Godziemba coat of arms (Paweł Dąmbski, castellan of Brzeg, followed by his son Michał, rittmeister of the Polish army, who was granted the Prussian title of a count in 1823). Most likely, it was Michał Dąmbski who initiated the construction of the neoclassical palace and the associated buildings (according to other sources, the works were commenced by the Stablewski family). The works were probably continued by Michał’s son — Count Gustaw Dąmbski, an officer of the Polish army and later a sejm deputy. After Gustaw’s death in 1863, Kołaczkowo was sold to a German buyer. At first, it belonged to the Schultz family, and starting from the early 20th century — to the Prussian Settlement Commission, which divided it into a number of parcels. In 1918, the village was taken over by the Settlement Office in Poznań. In 1920, part of the former estate of Kołaczkowo, covering an area of approx. 213 ha, was purchased by the writer Władysław Stanisław Reymont, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Reymont would only spend the summer and autumn in Kołaczkowo; in winter, he moved to Warsaw. During his stays at the palace, Reymont wrote, but also looked after his estate, e.g. he undertook to modernise the park. He was visited at the palace by his friends from the world of literature and politics, including Adam Grzymała-Siedlecki, Kornel Makuszyński, Zenon Przesmycki, Roman Dmowski, Władysław Grabski, Maciej Rataj, and Wincenty Witos. Following Reymont’s death in 1925, his heirs sold Kołaczkowo to the Jurasz family, a prominent family of doctors from Poznań. They remained the owners of the estate until 1939. After World War II, the palace contained flats for the workers of a local State Agricultural Farm (PGR), and then — the house of creative work of the Poznań branch of the Union of Polish Writers. The palace underwent full-scale renovations in the years 1968-79. Currently, the building houses the Commune Cultural Centre, the Memorial Exhibition Room of Władysław Reymont, and the Chamber of Bank Cooperatives.

Description

The palace and park complex is situated in the central part of Kołaczkowo, on the south side of a road connecting Września with Pyzdry. It comprises the palace, located in the centre, and the surrounding park. The palace courtyard (currently: Plac Reymonta, i.e. Reymonta Square) can be accessed from the road by a path. The palace faces the east. Opposite the residence, on the east side of Reymonta Square, there is a neoclassical residential outbuilding, and further — there is a former stable and granary building. The landscape park stretches to the west of the palace. The complex covers an area of 4.4 ha.

The palace has a rectangular floor plan. It has two storeys and a basement. The simple, compact building is covered with a half-hip roof.

The walls are made of brick and covered with plaster. The roof is covered with ceramic roof tiles. The basement rooms are covered with surbased vaults. The rooms on the higher storeys have flat wooden ceilings with counter ceilings.

The façades are divided by means of a simple string course. The corners are decorated with horizontal lines in the plaster. The window and door openings, rectangular in shape, are framed by profiled moulding surrounds. The ground floor windows are topped by cornice segments. The front façade has nine axes. The entrance is located on the central axis, behind a colonnaned portico topped with a triangular tympanum.

The palace has a two- and three-bay layout, with a hall and a spacious drawing room in the garden bay located on the cental axis. Some of the rooms contain exhibits of the Memorial Exhibition Chamber dedicated to Władysław Reymont. A dining room situated in a former drawing room and the adjacent study of the writer were reconstructed. They are equipped with pieces of furniture which belonged to Reymont and which were borrowed from the Museum of Literature in Warsaw. The exhibition includes old editions of Reymont’s works, his letters, copies of documents concerning the purchase of the palace and its management, and old photographs, among other things.

The park, stretching behind the palace, contains blue spruces which were planted when the palace was owned by Reymont and an avenue lined with lime trees, dating from the same period. A statue of the writer, depicting the author of Chłopi (“The Peasants”) accompanied by two characters from that novel — Jagna and Boryna — was erected in the park in 1977.

The site is open to visitors. More information is available on the website of the Commune Cultural Centre in Kołaczkowo: http://gokkolaczkowo.pl

compiled by Krzysztof Jodłowski, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 24-08-2015.

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. V, z. 29: powiat wrzesiński, Warszawa 1960, s. 8.
• Klasycyzm w Wielkopolsce : dwory i pałace, koncepcja, wybór fotografii, teksty Maria Strzałko, Poznań 2008, s. 100-07.
• Modlibowska E., Izba Pamięci Władysława Reymonta w Kołaczkowie, „Kronika Wielkopolski”, 2001, nr 2(98), s. 105-09.
• Skuratowicz J., Dwory i pałace w Wielkim Księstwie Poznańskim, Międzychód 1992, s. 6.