t is likely that as early as the 10th century there was a wooden stronghold called Zb±sz, located on a sandy island between the Obra River and Lake Błędno, which may have been the main administrative center of the region and may have served as a customs on the trade route leading from Poznań to Lusatia. The first historical mention of the Zbansin settlement dates back to 1231, from which we learn that the castellan of the time was named Ciecierad. These lands belonged to Silesia then, and their location at the junction of three great historical regions significantly impacted the later turbulent history of the castle and the town.
NORTHERN RAMPART AND REMAINS OF THE MOAT
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n 1243, dukes Przemysł I (d. 1257) and Boleslaus (d. 1279) took back by force a part of the Greater Poland district along with Zb±szyń, Santok and Międzyrzecz, previously belonging to the Silesian duke Boleslaus Rogatka (d. 1278). This was because they considered themselves the true heirs of the land, although legally it belonged to duke Boleslaus's father, Henry the Pious (d. 1241). This conflict led to a war that dragged on for years, resulting in the castle being damaged or perhaps even completely burned down. Meanwhile, in 1251, quite unexpectedly (probably in the absence of a military crew) the stronghold was captured by a local group of brigands, who gave it back only after the prince had paid a ransom.
VIEW OF THE TOWER FROM THE PARK
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t the beginning of the 14th century, the town and the castle were under the sovereignty of the Silesian-Głogów princes. Later it belonged for a short period to the Brandenburg Margrave Waldemar der Große (d. 1319), and then to King
Jan Lucemburský of Bohemia (d. 1346). In the 1330s,
Kazimierz Wielki (Casimir the Great, d. 1370) annexed Zb±szyń to the Kingdom of Poland and established there a customs chamber and a defense post on the border with Brandenburg. It may have also been on his initiative that the construction of a brick castle began at that time. From this period we know the name of one of the starosts of Zb±szyń - a certain Miło¶ciejcapitaneus in Bencyn.
NORTHERN PART OF THE CASTLE FORTIFICATIONS
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fter the death of Casimir the Great (or slightly earlier) Zb±szyń became a fief, which was henceforth leased by representatives of the Polish knighthood and later nobility. In 1393 it was given to Mazovian voivode Jan Głowacz Leżeńskiof Nałęcz coat of arms (who, according to rumors, may have been the illegitimate son of Casimir the Great and the Jewish woman Esterka) in exchange for loans granted to King
Louis I of Hungary (Nagy Lajos), Queen Elżbieta Łokietkówna (Elizabeth of Poland, his wife) and Queen Jadwiga (their daughter). When Jan Głowacz died at the Battle of Vorskla in 1399, Zb±szyń was taken over by his son Abraham (d. 1441), who adopted the Zb±ski surname. From then on, until the mid-17th century, the castle belonged to the Nałęcz-Zb±ski family and their descendants.
COAT OF ARMS CARTOUCHE OF THE CI¦WICKI FAMILY LINE FROM THE GATE TOWER
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n the second half of the 16th century Abraham III Zb±ski (d. 1578) began construction of a late Renaissance castle of the palazzo in fortezza type. However, he probably did not complete it, as indicated by a fragment of a speech given at his funeral: in his castellum, the construction of which he began, he rests. The work of Abraham Zb±ski was probably continued by his son-in-law Jan Ci¶wicki (d. 1597), and certainly by his grandson Abraham Ci¶wicki of
Wieniawa coat of arms, castellan of Bydgoszcz (d. 1644), although it is not known whether he managed to complete it according to the original plans. In any case, in the 1620s a bastion residence was erected in Zb±szyń, modeled on Old Dutch-type fortifications, i.e. with only earth bastions and ramparts. Interestingly, the work focused primarily on the construction of massive defensive ramparts to the exclusion of the residential part. Indeed, the family seat of the Ci¶wicki family remained a medieval castle, which was only adapted to the functional and aesthetic requirements of its time.
VIEW OF THE CASTLE FROM THE NORTH ON A LITHOGRAPH FROM 1843, E. RACZYŃSKI "MEMORIES FROM WIELKOPOLSKA..."
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n 1644 Abraham's son, Franciszek Ci¶wicki (d. 1681) sold the local estate to the Tuczyński family, but before the end of the century it returned to the descendants of the earlier owners. In the meantime, the castle was occupied by Swedish and later Brandenburgian forces, who looted it and plundered of ammunition, firearms and artillery. In 1700 Damian Kazimierz Garczyński (d. 1711) became the owner of the castle. A few years later he experienced another invasion by Swedish troops, who set up barracks on the castle grounds and, leaving it, ruined the castle buildings and destroyed all the furnishings.
RESIDENTIAL PART OF THE CASTLE IN AN XIXTH-CENTURY ENGRAVING, ON THE RIGHT THE GATE TOWER (PRESERVED)
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n the first half of the 18th century,
Stefan Garczyński (d. 1755), son of Damian, rebuilt the castle and established a park and garden in its vicinity, which must have been very beautiful if it was called decus - an ornament of the country. However, in the course of time and the deterioration of the owners’ financial situation, the residence, deprived of repairs, fell into neglect and finally into ruin. In 1848 Adam Tadeusz Garczyński von Rautenberg (d. 1863), Prussian chamberlain, sold it to Count Edmund von Pourtales-Gorgier. Five years later, the new owner of the castle was Count
Julius Peter von Lippe-Biesterfeld (d. 1884), who bought it mainly to rid it of the remnants of furnishings he had taken to
Neudorf Palace.
COURTYARD OF ZBˇSZYŃ CASTLE IN THE ENGRAVING BY T. ŻYCHLIŃSKI, "TYGODNIK ILUSTROWANY" 1863
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rnst von Lippe-Biesterfeld (d. 1904), son of Julian, sold the ruined mansion to major von Klitzing (d. 1906) in 1898. A year after the major's death, by order of his widow Hedwige von Klitzing, Prussian sappers demolished the residential buildings located inside the earth fortifications, thus the castle de facto ceased to exist. After 1945, the castle grounds became a town park, the gate tower was adapted into a small museum, and a hotel and restaurant were opened in the preserved farm buildings.
he Renaissance castle was built on a rectangular plan measuring about 250x350 meters, and its total area covered about 10 hectares. It was a Dutch-type fortress with ramparts and earth bastions surrounded by a moat. Earthen ramparts protected the castle from the north, east and south (all of which have survived). From the west, access to the courtyard was defended by a lake and marshes. In the northern section, in the vicinity of the gate, the ramparts are supported by walls.
THE NORTHERN BASTION
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he only entrance to the fortalice grounds led through a northern gate, preceded by a drawbridge connecting the outer bank of the moat with a ravelin, and another bridge communicating the ravelin with the town. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, a tower was erected over the gate passage, originally two-story with a Renaissance attic, and now three-story,
covered with a tent roof with an octagonal turret and a flag with monograms S.G. 1806 and H.K. 1916. The current appearance of the tower and bridge are the result of restoration work carried out in 1978-80 and 2016-18.
GATEWAY
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he castle had a typically defensive character until the early 17th century, when it became a residential palace. It was a one-story building erected on an L-shaped plan, with a longer (medieval) southern wing and a shorter western wing with a tower. Presumably, the western wing had representative functions, while the southern wing, although much longer, housed less significant rooms, perhaps of an economic nature. Adjacent to the dwelling house was an outbuilding, about which we only know that it served as a chicken coop in the mid-19th century, and there is not a living creature in its upper chambers except mice and insects (1863).
FRONT ELEVATIONS OF THE WESTERN (ABOVE) AND SOUTHERN WINGS
ON WILHELM JACOB'S DRAWINGS OF 1876
PLAN OF THE PALACE ACCORDING TO WILHELM JACOB, 1876
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he northwestern part of the castle was occupied by a one-story outbuilding (now a hotel) and a brewery (now a restaurant). Stables and a gardener's house were also placed within the ramparts, but their exact location remains unknown. A park was established to the south of them, with its central composition consisted of an elongated semicircular arrangement of hornbeam trees and a beautiful lime tree in the middle.
hat remains of the old castle are the earth bastions, the quadrangular three-story gate tower, as well as the former farm building and brewery, significantly rebuilt and now used as a hotel and restaurant. The tower houses the Contemporary Art Gallery.
Free admission to the park
Here you can freely walk with your dog.
A visit to the park and tower, as well as a walk to the lakeshore, takes a minimum of one hour.
No restrictions for flights in the open category
GATE TOWER, PRESENT STATE
GETTING THERE
Z
b±szyń is located about 90 km west of Poznań, near the A2 highway (Warsaw-Berlin). Relics of the castle can be found in the western part of the town, 400 meters from its center. Some trains running on the Poznań-Berlin and Poznań-Zielona Góra lines stop in the town (the train station is 2.5 km from the castle). After leaving the station, turn right and follow the main road to the southeast (along Rejtana Street and then January 17 Street).
You can park your car in a parking lot on Garczyńskich Street (next to the bridge), or on the other side of the embankment, by the park (also Garczynski Street).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. L. Kajzer, J. Salm, S. Kołodziejski: Leksykon zamków w Polsce, Arkady 2001
2. A. Wagner: Murowane budowle obronne w Polsce X-XVIIw., Bellona 2019
3. Z. Matuszewski: Pałac w Zb±szyniu z I poł. XVII wieku..., Szkice Zb±szyńskie 2017
4. serwis.zbaszyn.pl
5. www.zabytek.pl
AT LAKE BEŁDNO
Castles nearby: Międzyrzecz - ruins of the royal castle from the 14th century, 35 km
Sulechów - ducal castle from the 14th century, 35 km ¦wiebodzin - ruins of the ducal castle from the 14th century, 36 km Łagów - castle of the Hospitallers of Saint John from the 14th century, 56 km
Sieraków - remains of the Opaliński Castle from the 15th century, 58 km
