Castle of the Silesian Piasts in Brzeg
Medals on sale next to the ticket office!
The origins of the Renaissance castle in Brzeg go back to the times of Duke Henry I the Bearded /I half of the 13th century/. In the 14th and 15th centuries, this residence of the dukes of the Brzeg and Legnica line /1311-1675/ was repeatedly extended, and finally, in the years 1532-1586 /by Italian architects/ it was thoroughly transformed and rebuilt into one of the most magnificent Renaissance monarchical castles in this part of Europe.
The most valuable architectural feature of the three-winged chateau is the artistic decoration of the stone facade of the gatehouse. Like a patterned curtain, it is covered with richly elaborate sculptural decorations – arabesque and candelabra motifs, floral, figural, human and animal figures from the real and fairytale worlds.
Among these rich decorative motifs, there are life-size figures of the builder of the castle – Prince George II and his wife Barbara – on the first floor, and above them, in two rows, a relief-genealogical portrait gallery of 24 busts of Polish rulers and Silesian princes from the Piast dynasty.
In the 16th century, together with the castle, the interiors of the adjacent Gothic collegiate church of St. Hedwig were also rebuilt as the ancestral mausoleum of the local dukes.
At least 43 representatives of the Brzeg and Legnica princely line were buried in this largest Piast necropolis.
The splendour of the castle and the adjacent church was ended by their brutal bombardment and destruction by Prussian troops in 1741.
Between 1966 and 1990, the castle was comprehensively rebuilt. The restoration work resulted, among other things, in the reconstruction of the three-storey cloisters surrounding the castle courtyard and the damaged part of the ornamental window and door portals. The immediate surroundings of the castle were also enriched by reconstructing a fragment of the former ornamental garden with a Renaissance design.
Since 1945, the Museum of the Silesian Piasts has been associated with the Brzeg castle, which presents permanent and temporary exhibitions in the reconstructed interiors of the ‘Silesian Wawel’ and organises /in cooperation with other institutions/ music concerts, theatrical and artistic presentations, scientific sessions, with the participation of national and foreign artists, people of art, culture and science.
Permanent exhibitions:
‘Memoriae Piastorum Principum Silesiae’” ‘From the Past and Traditions of the Silesian Piasts’, ‘Silesian Art of the 15th-18th Century /from the Collection of the National Museum in Wrocław/, ’History of the City of Brzeg”.
