The Brühl Palace ( pl, Pałac Brühla), formerly known as Sandomierski Palace, was a palatial residence standing at

Piłsudski Square Piłsudski Square ( pl, plac marsz. Józefa Piłsudskiego), previously Victory Square (''plac Zwycięstwa'', 1946–1990) and Saxon Square (''Plac Saski'', 1814–1928), is the largest city square of Poland's capital, located in the Warsaw ...

, in central

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It was one of the largest palaces and one of the finest examples of

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

architecture in pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Warsaw.

History

The palace was built between 1639 and 1642 by Lorenzo de Sent for Crown Grand Chancellor

Jerzy Ossoliński Prince Jerzy Ossoliński h. Topór (15 December 1595 – 9 August 1650) was a Polish nobleman ('' szlachcic''), Crown Court Treasurer from 1632, governor (''voivode'') of Sandomierz from 1636, ''Reichsfürst'' (Imperial Prince) since 1634, Cro ...

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

style. It was built on the plan of an elongated rectangle with two hexagonal towers at garden side of the building. The palace was adorned with sculptures – an allegory of Poland above the main portal, four figures of kings of Poland in the

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development * Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

s and a statue of

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...

crowning the roof. A possible inspiration for the palace's upper pavilion and its characteristic roof was Bonifaz Wohlmut's reconstruction of Belvedere in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, 1557–1563. After the Chancellor's death the property was inherited by his daughter

Helena Tekla Ossolińska Princess Helena Tekla Lubomirska ''née'' Ossolińska (died 1687) was a Polish noblewoman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often be ...

, wife of Aleksander Michał Lubomirski, Starost of Sandomierz (from whom it takes its name). Later, between 1681 and 1696, it was rebuilt and remodeled by Tylman Gamerski and Giovanni Bellotti for Prince Józef Karol Lubomirski – Aleksander Michał's son. In 1750,

Heinrich von Brühl Heinrich, count von Brühl ( pl, Henryk Brühl, 13 August 170028 October 1763), was a Polish-Saxon statesman at the court of Saxony and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and a member of the powerful German von Brühl family. The incumbency ...

bought the palace as a residence. Between 1754 and 1759 it was rebuilt according to designs by Johann Friedrich Knöbel and

Joachim Daniel von Jauch Joachim Daniel von Jauch (22 March 1688 – 3 May 1754) was a German-born architect who supervised the baroque development of Warsaw in Poland. Early life and work Joachim Daniel von Jauch was born into the Jauch family in Güstrow, Germany on 2 ...

. The palace was enhanced and covered with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. Th ...

. Two outbuildings were added to the palace complex surrounding a triangular

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

that sometimes served as a parade ground. From that time the palace was known as the Brühl Palace. On 27 May 1787, the palace played a key role in a plot by Russian ambassador to Poland,

Otto Magnus von Stackelberg Otto Magnus von Stackelberg may refer to: * Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (ambassador) (1736–1800), Russian diplomat * Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (archaeologist) (1786–1837), Estonian archeologist {{hndis, Stackelberg, Otto Magnus von ...

. He derailed yet another Polish policy which seemed threatening to Russia. With few major wars in the past decades, the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

of the Commonwealth was improving, and its

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...

had a notable surplus. Many voices said that the money should be spent on increasing the size, and providing new equipment for, the

Polish army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

. However, as a large Polish army could be a threat to the Russian garrisons controlling Poland, von Stackelberg ordered his proxies in the

Permanent Council The Permanent Council () was the highest administrative authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1775 and 1789 and the first modern executive government in Europe. As is still typically the case in contemporary parliamentary pol ...

to spend the money on a different goal: for the huge sum of 1 million zlotys (representing most of the surplus), the council bought the Brühl Palace – and promptly donated it to 'Poland's ally', Russia, to serve as Russia's new

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

. At the end of the eighteenth century,

Dominik Merlini Domenico Merlini () (22 February 1730 – 20 February 1797) was an Italian-Polish architect whose work was mostly in the classical style. Life and Style From 1750 till his death, Merlini lived in Poland. In 1768, he became a nobleman and later ...

gave the interior a neoclassical look. During 1932–1937, the palace was adapted for use as the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

of the new Polish Republic. The architect this time was

Bohdan Pniewski Bohdan Wiktor Kazimierz Pniewski (born 26 August 1897 in Warsaw, died 5 September 1965 in Warsaw) was a Polish modernist architect, professor at the Warsaw University of Technology and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He is mostly known as a des ...

, who added a new modern building and modernized the interiors of all the buildings in the palace complex. It was deliberately and completely destroyed by the Germans on 18 December 1944 (during

, shortly after the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

). Around 2008, Warsaw's municipal government authorities have decided to rebuild the Brühl Palace. The new building was to have a facade referring to its historic shape, but a new private investor may adapt the interiors to the needs of either office space or a hotel. As of 2019, the reconstruction has not started.

References

:: In-line: :: General: *

Gallery

Image:Ossolinski Kazanowski Palace.jpg, ''Ossoliński Palace (left) and

Kazanowski Palace The Kazanowski Palace ( pl, pałac Kazanowskich), also known as the Radziejowski Palace, was a large palace in Warsaw, occupying the place where the Charitable Center ''Res Sacra Miser'' stands today. History When prince Władysław Vasa (future K ...

(right) in the 1650s'' Image:Pałac Sandomierski w Warszawie.JPG, ''As Lubomirski Palace - L. (before 1754)'' Image:Pałac Bruhla.JPG, ''Rear façade of the palace (before 1915)'' Image:Zniszczony pałac Brühla w Warszawie.jpg, ''Palace after the war'' Image:Warszawa-fundamenty pałacu Bruhla.jpg, ''Foundations of Brühl Palace''

External links

= palac_bruhla&r3 = 0 Warsaw before 1939

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruhl Palace, Warsaw Buildings and structures in Poland destroyed during World War II Demolished buildings and structures in Poland Former buildings and structures in Poland Palaces in Warsaw Houses completed in 1642 Houses completed in 1696 Rococo architecture in Warsaw 1642 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Former palaces in Poland

History

See also

References

Gallery

External links