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The hospital of St Dorothy - Zabytek.pl

The hospital of St Dorothy


public building Mid 19th century Żagań

Address
Żagań, Żelazna

Location
woj. lubuskie, pow. żagański, gm. Żagań (gm. miejska)

The hospital of St Dorothy, erected in place of a medieval hospital, together with the neighbouring church of the Holy Cross, belongs to the most important examples of the Gothic Revival architecture of the former Silesia. 

History

The hospital was erected in the years 1851-1859 in the Gothic Revival style and was funded by Duchess Dorothea de Talleyrand-Périgord. It replaced a medieval hospital of the Holy Cross, which the first half of the 19th century was already abandoned and falling into disrepair. It was the second building in that place, after the church of the Holy Cross, a 14th-century temple that was redeveloped in the years 1847-1849 upon commission by Duchess Dorothea. The design was prepared by Leonhard Dorst von Schatzberg - a court architect. The construction the hospital was supervised by constructor Feller, while Duchess Dorothea had an overriding say as regards the décor. Medical care was provided by a ducal physician as well as Sisters of Mercy of St Borromeo brought from France. A garden was arranged around the hospital: a utility one (herbs and vegetables) on the west and south side and a decorative one on the north side. In the 1850s  a Gothic Revival, single-storey building referred to as a “Bell Ringer’s House” was erected between the hospital and the church. Probably in the second half of the 19th century a small Gothic Revival chapel was erected close to the church, at the northern fence. In 1906, in the immediate vicinity of the hospital, perpendicularly to its body, the Mary’s House (German: Marienheim) was built. It functioned as a boarding house for girls as well as a school and dormitory for boys of the Roman Catholic belief. In the 1930s the building housed a private obstetrics clinic. After World War II administration and wards of the municipal hospital were arranged in the complex. The former local road on the west side of the complex was widened, thus separating it from the castle park. The area at the northern border of the park, between the palace and the hospital complex, was covered with blocks of flats. Since 2006 the complex (except for the church) has belonged to the State Musical School in Żagań and is currently unused. The hospital building underwent renovation of the façades, while the Mary’s House was renovated inside. In 2013 the roof was renovated and the cladding was replaced, while in the years 2015-2016 the fence around the complex was renovated. At present, the church façades are being renovated.

Description

The hospital building is located approx. 500 m to the south-east of the palace, within the palace gardens. It represents one of the elements of the complex that include: a church of the Holy Cross, the Mary’s House, the Bell Ringer’s House (the Sacristan’s House), the Loretto chapel, a building at the gate, utility buildings and composed greenery with monumental specimens of trees. The complex occupies the area on the north bank of the Bóbr river. The entire complex is enclosed with a high wall, featuring the main entrance and the gate in the north-west corner. The Gothic Revival hospital is a two-storey building made of stone and brick, set on a rectangular floor plan on the east-west axis, with two side wings and a tall basement, covered with gable roofs. The silhouette is partitioned by numerous projections - the side wing sections are crowned with turrets and loggias covered with separate roofs. The façades are faced with split stones, while the joints are filled with bog iron. Window surrounds, corners, architectural details in the form of friezes, cornices, pinnacles and stepped gables were made of bricks. The south façade includes a sandstone plaque above the entrance, carrying an inscription notifying of the construction and funding of the building by Duchess Dorothea and including a date 1851. The main entrance in the north façade is accentuated with a large, pointed-arch window adorned with a tracery and a wimperg. At the east wing, as seen from the south, there is a chapel of St Dorothy, which is a replica of the interior of the nearby church of the Holy Cross. It was equipped with a Gothic triptych and a marble statue of St Dorothy from 1855, sculpted by Felicia de Fauveau. The interiors feature the preserved window joinery with decorations in the form of traceries, while the first floor is surmounted with beamed ceilings with sumptuous ornamentation as well as includes multi-coloured ceramic roof tiles.

Limited access to the historic building. It can be viewed from outside.

Author of the note Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra. 13.12.2017

Bibliography

  • Adamek-Pujszo K., Działalność kulturotwórcza książąt żagańskich Bironów (1786-1862), część 1, Zielona Góra 2007;
  • Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. 2, Zielona Góra 2012, pp. 114-115;
  • Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, p. 443.

Category: public building

Architecture: nieznana

Building material:  brick

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_08_BK.30634, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_08_BK.121041