Diver's Palace #01 by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrThis is what will remain after a fairy tale ends. A forgotten castle in the middle of nowhere. Eerily beautiful to look at from the outside. But from the inside it’s nothing more than a ramshackle hut. It felt like this whole building would collapse at any second while exploring it. As it seems people tried to renovate the place but suddenly stopped in the middle of construction works. And all of this happened while the manor was used as some kind of office.
Diver's Palace #02 by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrIt’s the backcountry of Poland we were visiting this time. The palace is located on a farm complex with a park. Most of the buildings are ruins but some of them are still inhabited today. The outhouses can be dated back to the early 19th century. Most of them were agricultural buildings like barns. The oldest part of the main building has already been built in the 18th century. In 1867, the manor house was extended with additional wings. In the way it was constructed the building is a remnant of French baroque palaces with elements of the Italian Renaissance. Today it’s in extremely bad shape. Even the emblem fell off and broke one day. Let’s get inside and investigate the interior of the palace.
Renovation by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrThe whole ground-floor looks like a construction site. Pipes have been removed and new conductions were laid. Apart from the building machines there was barely anything left to see down here.
Diver's Palace #16 by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrThe ground floor was the safest part of the exploration. When we reached the upper floors it became really dangerous. But also really interesting.
Diver's Palace #09 by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrOn the first floor we discovered several items that have been left behind. In the old office there were quite a number of documents. Partly written in German and partly in Polish. We took a closer look at some of those papers and found a lot of documents focusing on security and army equipment in particular. Like a leaflet about a helmet with night-vision goggles. Later we even discovered advertisement for mine detectors.
Diver's Palace #11 by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrApparently there was even a living area. Since the early years of this millennium the building has been in private hands. The owner of German-Polish origin wanted to reconstruct the castle completely on the basis of historical pictures. If you’re searching on the internet for this manor you might even find plans of how the site was supposed to get redeveloped.
Diver's Palace #10 by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrSince 2014 the palace has been abandoned. At least we think so because we came across the number all the time.
Room with a View by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrMost of the things inside the manor have already been stolen. And all of this happened under the watch of the neighbors which used to be very vigilant. But much has happened since then. Also we wanted to obtain the permission of the local residents. But it seemed like they didn’t care at all who is entering the place.
Diver's Palace #06 by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrAlways extremely carefully we were moving through the once magnificent manor. Unsound ceilings and ramshackle floors are showing that the building stock can’t be rescued any more. On the one hand the building is under monumental protection. But on the other hand there’s no one who will do something about the terrible condition of the site. It’s said that the owner absconded abroad. So as it seems there will be no happy end for this fairy tale castle.
Diver's Palace #26 by Broken Window Theory, on FlickrIf you want to see more of this beautiful abandoned manor in the Lower Silesia region of Poland you should watch our documentary on YouTube:
Your English is far better than mine.
