History

In the history of Starogard Gdański, the second half of the 19th century, particularly after 1870, is a period of spatial and industrial development. New production plants were established in the town and the existing ones were modernised and extended. In 1871, Franciszek Wiechert purchased a mill on Wierzyca, situated in a place with medieval traditions. He converted it into a modern industrial plant with two new mills, a railway siding, and workshops. About 1880, on the north-western side of the mill complex, by the then Canalstrasse, a residential and administrative complex with a fine residence of the owners was build (1883?, converted in 1893?). The palace belonged to the family until the beginning of 1945. After the liberation, the estate of the Wiechert family became state property; the palace housed a kindergarten, a nursery, and apartments for the mill workers. Currently, it is private property. The new owner renovated the building as well as part of the interior.

Description

The palace of the Wiechert family is located on the north-eastern side of the chartered town, in Kanałowa street, near the crossing with Tczewska street. The building is situated in a compact administrative, spectacular complex, earlier owned by the Wiechert family. It occupies the south-western corner of the plot. On its western side, there is a lodge with a gate connected with the office building (originally a utility building). On the opposite side of Tczewska street, there is the Wiechert mill complex.

The eclectic building, incorporating mostly Renaissance Revival forms, was designed on a floor plan similar to letter “L” (the western part features a two-bay layout, and the eastern part - a three-bay layout; at the junction of these two parts there is the main staircase). It is built of brick and plastered. Its body, covered with a flat roof, has two storeys, a utility attic, and a basement. The southern and the eastern façades feature similar design. They both have rectangular windows, on both levels divided by pairs of Corinthian engaged columns with fluted shafts, entablatures decorated with friezes, windows with arcaded gables with symmetrically placed woman’s masks on an acanthus twig. On the ground floor of the façades, there is a panel plinth. The top section features a panel parapet with motifs of foliate scrollwork, which holds decorative vases. The southern façade has 11 axes: in the central part (four-axial) the ground floor is framed with triple engaged columns. On the first storey, windows have pediments with surbased cornices and decorated semicircles. In the axes of the columns, there are five statues of women. The symmetrical eastern façade has 7 axes, with the central part having 3 axes. It is preceded by an open (earlier glazed) porch and a terrace on the first floor. The western and the northern façades are plain, without any decorations.

The interior has been partly modified; however, the varied décor of the rooms, especially sumptuous in the spectacular hall on the first floor (e.g. a plafond with a rosette, an eclectic painted decoration with neo-Renaissance motifs, a built-up cove moulding, two wooden heater casings in relief), has been preserved.

Private property. The site can be viewed from the outside.

compiled by Teofila Lebiedź-Gruda, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Gdańsk, 17-11-2014.

Bibliography

• Karta ewidencyjna (tzw. biała karta): Pałac, ob. przedszkole, Starogard Gd., ul. Kanałowa 21, J. Michno, 1984, w zbiorach OT NID w Gdańsku.
• Milewski J., Zabytki i niektóre inne dobra kultury Starogardu Gdańskiego, Starogard Gd. 1993, s. 58, 100-101,
• Pernak R., Studium historyczno-urbanistyczne Starogardu Gdańskiego, t. I-IV, w zbiorach OT NID w Gdańsku.