Nowęcin Palace, Łeba

The Palace in Nowęcin in Łeba, Poland, is a historic noble residence that developed for the von Wejher (von Weiher) family within the territory controlled by the Teutonic Order, and its fabric reflects a main building phase in the mid‑16th century when Renaissance forms were introduced. The site became important as the rural seat of a local noble lineage, its chapel preserving a dated votive plaque tied to a military campaign, and the whole complex is recognised as a protected monument.

The estate’s documented story begins in 1372, when Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode granted the locality of Łeba to Dietrich von Weiher. Following a violent storm surge on 15 September 1497 that destroyed the family’s earlier seat in Łeba, Claus von Wejher established a new fortified residence about three kilometres east‑southeast of the town, calling it Neuer Hof, a name that later gave rise to the German designation Schloss Neuhof.

In the mid‑1500s Ernst von Wejher carried out a substantial rebuilding in the Renaissance manner and added an eastern wing to the chapel dedicated to Jerusalem. A votive tablet set into the chapel bears the inscription GWMUITG – 1567 – EWAUM and is associated with Ernst von Wejher, who returned gravely wounded from the Livonian War in 1567.

From 1781 the palatial property passed into the hands of the von Somnitz family of Charbrow and thereafter changed owners several times. Around 1909 the complex was enlarged by its then proprietor, who added a west wing, erected a six‑storey tower capped by a tent roof, and built an arcade extension in front of the chapel. After the Second World War the estate became property of the State Agricultural Farm in Charbrow, which carried out a series of repairs, the most extensive in the 1960s. Through the later decades of the 20th century the buildings served visitors, agricultural staff, and from the 1980s guests of a leisure‑training centre. In the 1990s a private owner undertook a general renovation. The ensemble is registered as a palace complex (registration no. A‑1172, 2 July 1987).