Rozkochów Palace

Rozkochów Palace in Rozkochów, Poland, is a noble residence within the historical sphere of the Duchy of Opole. Its earliest fabric dates to the later Renaissance, with a residence probably erected in the mid‑17th century, and the building was substantially remodelled in the Baroque style in the 18th century. The site served as a landed estate for successive noble families and later as agricultural and state-managed property, giving it a long role in local social and economic life.

A manor or small castle stood on the site in the 1500s and belonged to the von Redern family. In the mid‑1600s a more regular Renaissance house with a formal garden replaced or overlaid the earlier building. Around 1734 the estate underwent major Baroque remodelling under the Pückler family (Counts von Pückler), which produced the principal changes to the garden layout; the house was further enlarged at the end of the 1700s.

In 1851 the estate passed to the Seherr‑Thoss family from Dobra. Roger von Seherr‑Thoss managed the property for much of the 19th century until 1893; his son Hermann von Seherr‑Thoss later took stewardship, and Hermann and his wife Muriel White established their household in the palace in 1909. Roger’s 1873 marriage to Mathilda von Saurma Jeltsch is noted in the family record. The palace remained in private hands until the upheavals of the 20th century.

During the Second World War the palace buildings were used as a Reich Labour Service camp for female youth. After 1945 administration passed to Polish authorities and the estate became part of local state agricultural structures, at one time attached to the stud farm in Moszna. It was later incorporated into a breeding‑stock complex in Kuyavia and from 1956 belonged to the State Centre for Breeding Stock based in Głogówek. At various times parts of the house provided accommodation for workers; during the 1950s the future Olympic cyclist Stanisław Szozda lived on the first floor of the north‑eastern wing with his parents before the family moved in 1959.

The palace received legal protection as a monument in 1964, and the neighbouring park entered heritage protection in 1988. In January 2021 a private purchase transferred the palace to businessman Grzegorz Wnęk. Later in 2021 the Foundation “Pałac Rozkochów – Pomiędzy” was created to begin renovation and to develop the site as a centre for art and culture, with Piotr Kulczyk, Natalia Rygiel and Andrzej Dereń on the board. The estate has since hosted artistic and cultural events.