In former East Prussia there were many richly equipped residences of noblemen and aristocrats. One of the most magnificent of them was the palace in Drogosze (in Kętrzyn district), from which several interesting objects have found their way to the museum collections in Kętrzyn.
At the end of the 17th century, the late Renaissance residence of Ludwig von Rautter was destroyed in a fire, and after its demolition, the impressive Baroque residence in Drogosze was built in the second decade of the 18th century by Bogislav Frederick von Dönhoff.
The grandmother of the palace builder was Countess Catherine von Dönhoff, née zu Dohna. Her dowry chest from Drogosze, decorated with the coats of arms of her ancestors, was seriously damaged in 1945. As a result, the damaged portraits of the Countess’ parents painted on the panels of the chest lid did not survive.
In the Drogosze gallery of paintings of ancestors and distinguished members of the family, there hung a portrait of the voivode Theodor von Dönhoff, a soldier in the service of the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa.
The palace collection also included a marble sculpture from the beginning of the 18th century depicting the infant Heracles strangling snakes.
The 18th century palace in Arklity (in Kętrzyn district) belonged to the von und zu Egloffstein family. This building has not survived to the present day, but some of the objects preserved in the Kętrzyn museum are a reminder of its former glory.
The copper sheet panoply showing the coats of arms of the Egloffstein and von Borcke families was originally placed on the front of the palace roof. Now it bears traces of bullet holes and damage.
A decorative plate with a battle scene (from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries) and other historical objects, including a collection of luxurious Meissen porcelain products, also came to the Museum in Kętrzyn from Arklity.
The Palace in Drogosze
The dowry chest of Countess Katharina von Dönhoff in the palace in Drogosze
Portrait of Countess Katharina von Dönhoff,
née zu Dohna, in the palace in Drogosze
Portraits of the parents of Countess Katharina von Dönhoff, née zu Dohna,
in the palace in Drogosze
Archival photographs in the resources of Art Institute of The Polish Academy of Sciences
from the collection of the former Provincial Heritage Office in Königsberg
Sculpture of Heracles from the palace in Drogosze
Portrait of Theodor von Dönhoff from the former collection of the palace in Drogosze
Portrait of Theodor von Dönhoff in the gallery of the palace in Wilanów
The Palace in Arklity at the beginning of the 20th century
Panoply from the palace in Arklity
A decorative plate with a battle scene from the palace in Arklity
Meissen porcelain from the collection of the Arklity palace