History

The construction of the palace began in 1677 when the estate belonged to Heinrich Johannes von Dünnewald. It was erected in place of an earlier seat. After an heirless death of his son Ludwig, the residence changed owners several times. After a fire in 1745 the residence was rebuilt. At that time, it was administered by the then owner of the estate, Count Friedrich August von Cosel, son of Augustus the Strong and Countess Cosel. The reconstruction covered the erection of two towers, new arrangement of the façades and modification of the interior décor in the spirit of Rococo. A courtyard was also delineated at the front and a geometric park was arranged to stretch towards the lake behind the palace. After the Count Cosel’s son lost control over the estate, the palace belonged successively to: Graf von Schlabrendorff, von Schönaich-Carolath family and Hermina Reuss-Hohenzollern, wife of Wilhelm II. After World War II the Baroque residence saw its adaptation to the “Farmers’ Self-Help” Personnel Training Centre. After a fire in 1956 the feature was refurbished and adapted to a Pneumonia Prevention Centre for children. In that period, a pavilion was added to the south-east part of the palace, linked to it by a passage along the bridge flying over the moat. On the east side of the residence a large utility building was erected. In the years 1984-1985 conservation works were carried out in the ballroom, while in the 1990s the roof cladding was replaced and the tower was refurbished. After yet another fire, in 1990 an outbuilding in the north corner of the complex was reconstructed. Since 1998 the palace has housed a psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents. In the years 2010-2015 a conservation survey was carried out with regard to selected interiors and façades. In 2016 the façades were renovated and recently the representational Crystal Room has been refurbished.

Description

The palace is located in the south-eastern part of the village, preceded at the front with a vast, hexagonal courtyard, around which the outbuildings and utility buildings are clustered. A park reaching as far as to the lake is situated to the south from the palace. The palace is enclosed with a wide, dried moat over which masonry bridges were built on the side of the courtyard and the garden. In its main part the palace is a Baroque, masonry building, erected on a U-shaped floor plan, with a rectangular courtyard, terminating in a single-storey wing with an arcaded gallery and a terrace in the north. Quadrangular towers adjoin the side wings. The three-storey body with a basement is covered with a gable and a three-sloped roof with wall dormers, clad in copper tiles in a diamond-shaped arrangement. The west, four-storey tower is topped with a bulbous dome with a lantern, while the east three-storey tower is covered with a gable roof. The courtyard is circumscribed in the south, east and west by arcaded cloisters with a terrace on the second storey. The façades are accentuated with lavish architectural details in the form of cornices, rustication, rusticated lesenes at the corners, window casings, window pediments, panels and pilasters. The palace façade is accentuated with a pediment featuring a relief decoration with a cartouche displaying the initials of Friedrich August Cosel against a panoply. The portal in the screen-type wing is flanked with double pilasters and adorned in the field of a segmented pediment with two crest cartouches, the left one displaying a coat of arms of the von Schönaich-Carolath dukes. The interior layout is single- and two-bay on the ground floor and single-bay on the first floor. Staircases are located in the towers. Some rooms on the ground floor are covered with barrel vaults with lunettes and groin vaults, while the remaining rooms are topped with ceilings with crown moulding. A sumptuous Rococo décor of the stucco type has survived in the ballroom, the oval room and the library. The fixtures and fittings also include four original fireplaces. Five outbuildings clustered around a large courtyard in front of the palace were erected in the second half of the 18th century. These are single-storey, brick buildings set on a rectangular floor plan, with a usable attic, covered with mansard roofs with wall dormers. The interior layout has been radically modified, but the main bodies have remained intact.

Limited access to the historic building. It can be visited upon prior telephone arrangement.

Author of the note Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra. 08.12.2017

Bibliography

• Adamek-Pujszo K., Pałac w Zaborze, gm. loco, pow. zielonogórski – dzieje obiektu i jego architektura, [in:] “Lubuskie Materiały Konserwatorskie”, 2016, vol. 13, pp. 121-141;
• Celecka P., Pałac w Zaborze-wyniki badań konserwatorskich z lat 2010-2015, [in:] “Lubuskie Materiały Konserwatorskie”, 2016, vol. 13, pp. 21-26;
• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. 1, Zielona Góra 2014, p. 103;
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, pp. 418-420;
• Zabytkowe parki województwa lubuskiego, Bielinis-Kopeć B. (ed.), Zielona Góra 2013, pp. 224-226;
• Zamki, dwory i pałace województwa lubuskiego, Bielinis-Kopeć B. (ed.), Zielona Góra 2007, pp. 337-338.