Stāmeriena Palace (; ) is a palace built in

Historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

style from 1835 to 1843 in the

Stāmeriena Parish Stāmeriena Parish () is an administrative unit of Gulbene Municipality, Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to t ...

Gulbene Municipality Gulbene Municipality () is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Beļava parish, Dauksti parish, Druviena parish, Galgauska parish, Jaungulbene parish, Lejasciems parish, Litene parish, Lizums p ...

, in the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

region of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. Its first owner was Johann Gottlieb von Wolff (1756-1817) and subsequently his descendants. In 1905, during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, the manor was burned down, but was later renewed by Baron Boris von Wolff (1850-1917) in 1908. Although it was rebuilt in a different style, it is considered one of the brightest architectural achievements of his time in French

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

style in Latvia. Stāmeriena palace was one of the few manors which were not nationalized after Latvian agrarian reforms in the 1920s. So the von Wolff family continued to live there through the 1930s until 1939. The palace was presented as a gift to Andrei Pilar von Pilchau, the first - and homosexual - husband of the palace's owner Alexandra von Wolff-Stomersee (1894-1982). Her second husband, the Sicilian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, also lived in the Stāmeriena palace for a few years in the 1930s after their marriage in 1932. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

technical school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocationa ...

of agriculture was located in the palace. Later it was used as the administration building of the local state-owned farm (

sovkhoz A sovkhoz ( rus, совхо́з, p=sɐfˈxos, a=ru-sovkhoz.ogg, syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated from , ''sovetskoye khozyaystvo''; ) was a form of state-owned farm or agricultural enterprise in the Soviet Union. It is usually contrasted w ...

). After 1992 the palace stood empty for six years, then in 1998 it became a private property and since then the palace and landscape park around it are being restored and open to visitors.

References

External links

*
Stāmeriena Castle website
Palaces in Vidzeme Art Nouveau architecture in Latvia Art Nouveau houses Buildings and structures completed in 1908 Buildings and structures completed in 1843 Historicist architecture 1843 establishments in the Russian Empire Gulbene Municipality {{Latvia-castle-stub

See also

References

External links