The preserved stonework decorations exhibit a significant artistic value.

History

The forest colony of Niemojów was established alongside the boundary of the Kłodzko County and the Dzika Orlica river. It was originally founded back in 1578 at the initiative of Leonhard von Veldhammer, the chief forester of the Kłodzko County, and was intended as a place of residence for the individuals working in the woods that stretched across the Imperial domain (Kammergut). The first mention of the village administration (sołectwo) in Niemojów was made in 1579. During the period between 1579-1628 or thereabouts, the office of the village administrator remained in the hands of the successive imperial officials from the Neudeck family. Later on, the function of the village administrator was performed by commoners, including Nicolaus Rupprecht from Długopole Górne (1719-1772) as well as other members of the Rupprecht family (until the year 1800 and beyond). Some of those who performed the office of the village administrator, as well as certain members of their families, were buried inside the church in Niemojów→kościele w Niemojowie, with the headstones crafted in their memory being displayed in front of the said church. The Niemojów village administration also exercised its authority over a systematically extended estate, its size making it incomparable with any other local estates under the authority of other village administrators. The estate in question enjoyed a judicial privilege and had its own serfs and craftsmen. Covering a large area of land, the estate encompassed a forest, a mill erected in 1596, a brewery (built in 1609) and a malthouse (the estate benefited from a separate liquor licence) as well as a bleachery and fulling mill (second half of the 18th century). The presence of these facilities made the grange of the village administrator surrounding the manor house comparable only with larger manor farms owned by the nobility. The buildings which comprise the grange were erected during the period between the 16th and the 18th century. The village administrator’s manor house, designed in the Renaissance style, was the earliest of them all, having been erected during the fourth quarter of the 16th century. A masonry structure made of stone, the two-storey manor house was designed on a square floor plan and featured a quadrangular corner annex which may have originally been a lean-to or a tower. It is believed that a number of utility buildings must have accompanied the manor house at this stage. However, in 1711 the buildings have been lost to the blaze; in 1727, the grange was reconstructed by Nicolaus Franz Ruprecht, taking on a more Baroque appearance. The manor house received a mezzanine and new gables; the new, southern section of the building, with its spacious interiors, was accompanied by an arcaded walkway and a corner loggia to the south-west. The façades of the manor house were covered with plaster. The arrangement of windows was changed as well; whenever possible, the windows were now positioned axially. The windows were adorned with decorative surrounds, either in the form of simple bands or following an eared design, with some of the surrounds being additionally embellished with festoons or decorations bearing close resemblance to scrollwork ornaments, designed in a style reminiscent of the window surrounds which adorn the façades of the church in Roztoki (→Roztokach) as well as those framing the windows of the palace in Rychnov nad Kněžnou in the Hradec Králové district (1720s/1730s). In the second half of the 18th century, the manor house received a new half-hip roof. By 1764, both of the utility buildings which stood alongside the vast yard that stretched in front of the manor house have been rebuilt and extended upwards. Between the manor house and the north-eastern utility building embedded in the slope of the hill, a two-storey connecting section was constructed, its ground-floor section following a two-bay layout and a vaulted ceiling supported by a series of pillars. Furthermore, in 1764 a section of a wall with entrance gate adorned with a Rococo cartouche as well as a smaller wicket gate was constructed between the manor house and the north-eastern utility building. In this way, the manor house and the utility building now had a single, uniform south-eastern façade. After 1945, the manor house and the grange fell into disuse, most likely due to the scale of the complex and the location near the border. As a result, the buildings began to deteriorate rapidly, despite the fact that the entire ensemble, designated as a manor house ruin, was inscribed into the register of monuments in 1960.

Description

The village administrator’s manor house and grange in Niemojów is located at the foot of the hill, below the nearby church. The entire ensemble originally followed a horseshoe-shaped layout, with the manor house situated on the south-eastern side of the utility yard. On the eastern and western side of the yard rose two large utility buildings. Today, the entire manor house complex is in a state of ruin. Large fragments of the walls of both the manor house and the accompanying buildings have survived intact.

The complex may be viewed from the outside, although during the summer months the lush vegetation makes it almost inaccessible.

compiled by Iwona Rybka-Ceglecka, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Wrocław, 24-08-2015.

Bibliography

• Brzezicki S., Nielsen Ch., Grajewski G., Popp D. (ed.), Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warsaw 2006
• Kögler J., Historische und topographische Beschreibung der in der Grafschaft Glatz und zwar Habelschwerdter District glegenen Rosenthal und Schnallenstein, 1804, Vierteljahrschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde der Grafschaft Glatz, Bd. III, Habelschwerdt 1883/1884.