Sybillenort Castle

About

Sibyllenort Palace (German: Schloss Sibyllenort or Polish: Pałac Sybilli) is a former palace in Szczodre, 12 kilometres north-east of Wrocław, Silesia, Poland. It was first the seat of the dukes of Oels, and later the private property of the royal Saxon family. Due to its Tudor style, it was known as the Silesian Windsor. It was destroyed in the last days of the Second World War, by soldiers of either the retreating SS or the Red Army (or both). Today, only individual remnants of buildings and the park remain in the castle complex.

The villages of Neudorf and Rastelwitz belonged to the Gaffron family since 1592, with Rastelwitz lying deserted since the Thirty Years' War. In 1685, Balthasar Wilhelm von Gaffron sold them to Christian Ulrich I, Duke of Württemberg-Oels (1652–1704). From 1685 to 1692, he constructed a summer residence there for his second wife, princess Sibylle Maria of Saxony-Merseburg (1667–1694), after whom he named both the town and the palace, Sibyllenort. The palace consisted of 13 axles with a French garden and was surrounded by a moat.

Christian Ulrich's son, Charles Fredrick II (1690–1761), gifted the palace to his wife, Sibylle Charlotte Juliane of Württemberg (1690–1735), in 1712, who initially leased the property. After the palace was deemed uninhabitable, Sibylle Charlotte renovated it in 1716 and used it as a summer residence until her death in 1735. It then passed to her sister, Hedwig Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst (1691–1752), before reverting to the dukes of Württemberg-Oels.

Polish kings and Saxon electors Augustus II the Strong (1670–1733) and Augustus III of Poland (1696–1763) visited Sibyllenort, when travelling between their capitals Dresden and Warsaw.

Charles Frederick II's successor and brother, Charles Christian (1716–1792), paid little attention to the palace. He was the last of his line. His daughter, Friederike Sophie Charlotte Auguste (1751–1789), was married to prince Frederick Augustus of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1740–1805), son of Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1713–1780). This prince became the inheritor of Schloss Sibyllenort.

Duke of Brunswick: duke Frederick Augustus

In 1792, the duchy of Oels was granted to prince Frederick Augustus. He preferred Sibyllenort over the Oels castle in Oleśnica. He significantly renovated and expanded Sibyllenort from 1792 to 1805. The main building was raised with an additional floor, the main facade received projecting bay windows, and two domed round towers were added on the courtyard side. Additionally, four outbuildings were constructed, including a theatre. The gardens were designed by Christian Weiss. Joseph von Eichendorff visited the palace in 1803 and praised the combination of luxury and taste.

When duke Frederick August died, the duchy and the Sibyllenort palace went to his nephew, Frederick William (1771–1815), who inherited the Duchy of Brunswick as well.

Gallery: Sibyllenort in the time of duke Frederick Augustus

Garden side of Sibyllenort by Sandler in 1802

Plan of Sibyllenort in 1792 with expansions started in 1851

From 1824 onwards, it was owned by the last Duke of Oels, William, Duke of Brunswick (1806–1884). In 1829, he hosted at Sibyllenort the Russian tsar Nicholas I and his wife, Charlotte of Prussia.

Between 1851 and 1857, Duke William, under the direction of architect Carl Wolf, rebuilt and significantly expanded the palace complex in the style of Windsor Castle in the British Tudor style, comprising 400 rooms. The length of the palace was 300 metres, of which the frontal façade was 100 metres long. East of the newly integrated corps de logis, a new economic wing was built, as well as a glazed orangery. Simultaneously, a 75-hectare English landscape park with several ponds and a wild game reserve of over 200 hectares were created. It was possible to visit the park and 60 representative rooms with a large collection of 5,000 prints and paintings, and Meissen porcelain, making the palace a popular tourist attraction. The theatre within the palace featured actors from Wrocław and a professional ballet from Brunswick.

William made Sibyllenort his main residence and died there on 18 June 1884, unmarried and without legitimate heirs. He bequeathed Sibyllenort to his nephew, Albert, King of Saxony (1828–1902). The duchy of Oels itself returned to the Prussian crown. The Oels castle became one of the residences of the Prussian crown prince.

Gallery: Introduction of the Tudor style by duke William

Front facade of Sibyllenort around 1920–1935

The octagonal tower is inspired by Guy's Tower of Warwick Castle in England

King Albert of Saxony used Sibyllenort as a summer residence. Under Albert, the theatre was converted into a chapel, the palace received water and sewage systems, and the large fountain in front of the main facade was installed. Also, there were other improvements; a marble altar was imported from Venice and the dining room walls were covered with embossed leather depicting ancient scenes.

The Archduchess Louise of Austria (1870–1947), consort of the last King of Saxony, Frederick Augustus III (1865–1932), recounts the following about Sibyllenort Castle in her memoirs:

"In the summer of 1902 we were in the country, but our usually pleasant holiday was clouded by the serious condition of King Albert, who was on the point of death. The King and Queen were staying at the Castle of Sibyllenort near Breslau (Wrocław) in Silesia, a beautiful residence given by the last Duke of Brunswick to the then King of Saxony. The castle contains four hundred rooms, and it was the scene of many scandalous orgies in the later forties. The Duke, who was a great admirer of the fair sex, had a private theatre there, and the ballet was composed of numerous pretty girls, whom he kept in harem-like seclusion. I remember seeing some rather startling pictures when I visited the castle as a girl of sixteen, but these were very properly banished by Queen Carola's orders, and Sibyllenort became a highly decorous royal residence."