North of Tarnowskie Góry and around Lubliniec stand a dozen or so former manor houses and magnates' residences. Some have become schools, care centres or hotels, and others are waiting for a new owner. They have one thing in common: none of them has a museum-style tourist setup, so visiting them feels more like following the traces of the families that ruled this land than sightseeing with a ticket. Below is an overview, ordered from the most accessible to those that can only be viewed from the outside.

Palaces you enter like a cultural institution

Rybna Palace, today a district of Tarnowskie Góry, is a late Baroque residence completed in 1796, as confirmed by the date on the cartouche in the pediment of the façade. In the 18th century the estate belonged to the Warkocz family, and the rebuilding was the work of Antonina Warkocz née Bujakowska. The last owners were the von Koschütz family, who left for Germany in 1922, when Rybna became part of Poland. In 1934 the palace was bought by the Riflemen's Association (Związek Strzelecki), which set up a shooting school there; during the war it housed a military hospital, and after the war council flats. The reconstruction of 1974-1980 restored the building's original shape, and since 1982 it has been associated with music. Today it is run by a local-government cultural institution, so it is the easiest palace on the list to see.

Koszęcin Palace is known for being the home of the “Śląsk” Song and Dance Ensemble since 1953. A wooden castle burned down here in 1603, and a masonry one was completed in 1605 by Andrzej Kochcicki. From 1804 to 1945 the estate belonged to the Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen family, who in 1828-1830 rebuilt the residence in the Neoclassical style to a design by Albert Roch. It is surrounded by a landscape park from the mid-19th century, and members of the Hohenlohe family are buried in the crypt of the chapel.

Donnersmarck Palace in Nakło Śląskie is a Neo-Gothic residence from 1856-1858, built on the initiative of Count Hugo I Henckel von Donnersmarck and extended in 1891. It is surrounded by a park designed by Peter Joseph Lenné. Today it houses the Centre of Silesian Culture. The palace and park in nearby Świerklaniec belong to the same family, but we describe that complex separately: the palace park in Świerklaniec was the main residence of the Donnersmarcks in the Brynica valley.

Residences with a hotel, a school or a care centre

Kamieniec Palace stands on a terraced hill above the Drama river in the municipality of Zbrosławice. In the 16th century the Kokor family built a Renaissance castle here; on its foundations, in the early 18th century, Martin Scholtz von Löwenkron built a Baroque palace, and in the spring of 1750 it was bought by Karol Józef Strachwitz. The present Neo-Baroque appearance was given to the palace in 1910 by Count Günther zu Stolberg-Stolberg. Today it houses a medical and rehabilitation centre for children, so the rules of entry should be checked with the manager, and the park and the building are easiest to view from the outside.

Stories circulate around Kamieniec too. According to legend, the first wooden castle was built by the Templars, and that the Teutonic Order's master Hermann von Salza hurriedly hid treasure here. There is also talk of underground passages between the castles in Kamieniec, Ziemięcice and Wieszowa. This information was given by one of the later owners, Count Hubertus von Strachwitz, and no source materials confirming it have been found so far. It is therefore a legend, not an established fact.

Brynek Palace in the municipality of Tworóg was built in 1829 by Bernard von Rosenthal for Prince Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen. In 1904 the estate was bought by Count Hugo II Henckel von Donnersmarck, and a rebuilding to a design by Karl Grosser, completed in 1905, gave it its present Eclectic look, with two towers with onion-shaped domes. The palace houses a boarding house of a forestry school, and the complex includes a park of about 36 hectares.

Łubie Palace was built in the 1860s by Artur Baildon as a family seat, and in 1910-1911 it was rebuilt to plans by Ernst von Haiger. Today it is a social care home, so the interiors are not open to visitors. It is approached by a chestnut avenue, and the park contains the chapel of St Mary Magdalene.

The Lubliniec area: Czarny Las, Patoka and private manor houses

Czarny Las Palace, in the municipality of Woźniki, was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as the residence of the Helenenthal estate, commissioned by the Wrocław merchant Ferdinand Ziegler. Before 1917 the estate was bought by Kazimierz Niegolewski, a politician associated with the Polish side during the Silesian Uprisings and, in 1922, the first starost of Lubliniec County in the Second Polish Republic. In 1918-1922 the palace was used to hide weapons and people wanted by the Prussian authorities, and during the Third Uprising the owner's wife, Wiktoria Niegolewska, set up a hospital for insurgents there. Since 2003 it has housed a hotel with a restaurant, and the interiors are open to guests.

Patoka Palace in the municipality of Ciasna is a 19th-century Neo-Baroque building with a balcony on four columns and a cartouche with the coat of arms of Prince Hugo von Radolin, who owned the estate from 1894. The rules for visiting are not known, so all that remains is viewing it from the outside and, before a visit, checking the availability of the park with the municipal office.

Two more palaces in Lubliniec County are above all stops for those who like looking at buildings. Dralin Palace probably dates from 1898, has belonged to private owners since the late 1980s and is easiest to see from the road. Kochanowice Palace, from the early 19th century, belonged to the von Aulock family in 1817-1928 and has served as a school since the 1930s, so we view it from the outside.

Czekanów lies in the municipality of Zbrosławice. Czekanów Palace was originally a 17th-century manor house, which in 1878 was rebuilt as a palace in the Dutch Neo-Renaissance style, on the initiative of Karol II von Raczka. Above the entrance is a cartouche with the coats of arms of Eleonora von Oriola and her husband. In 1964 the steep roofs, gables and towers were removed, so the building looks more modest today than in the 19th century. It is viewed from the outside.

How to plan a trip

Most of these sites are working institutions or private property, so before setting out it is worth checking the rules of entry to the grounds with the owner or the municipal office. The palaces in Rybna, Koszęcin and Nakło Śląskie make an easy start, and the rest can be combined into one circuit: Kamieniec, Czekanów and Łubie lie in neighbouring municipalities of Tarnowskie Góry County, and Czarny Las, Patoka, Dralin and Kochanowice in Lubliniec County. The palace in Repty Śląskie and the complex in Świerklaniec have separate descriptions in the portal.