A (still) unknown story about heroism during the Second World War is about the owner of the Polish castle Zamek Kliczkow. Friedrich III zu Solms-Baruth inherited a ‘Sleeping Beauty Castle’ with towers, ballroom, spiral staircases, courtyard and beautiful gates. Nowadays the castle is an affordable hotel with a lot of luxury and a romantic appearance. Kliczkow is only a day’s drive (800 km) from the Dutch border.
History
The history of Zamek Kliczkow begins in 1297. Around 1600, the medieval castle was converted into a Renaissance palace. The oldest part of the current building comes from here. The annals tell us that around 1650 the castle had stables for thirty horses, a mill and a beer brewery. Water was obtained from two fountains, one near the kitchen and one near the brewery. The castle also had two ballrooms, cellar vaults and a chapel. Around 1810 the castle was restored again, now in Empire style. The current neo-Gothic tower dates from that time. Around 1904 the estate also received an English landscape garden. The territory has now become German and the castle is called Klitschdorf.
Kaiser Wilhelm’s secret door
The then owner Friedrich II zu Solms-Baruth held the office of chief hunting master of the emperor. Yes, the German Emperor. Western Poland was then German territory. It is the same emperor who later had to flee and was given shelter by Queen Wilhelmina in Huize Doorn. Kaiser Wilhelm visited Kliczkow Castle many times. He had his own suite in the castle. This is now available to rent for guests. Very special is the secret door that opens into the bathroom and leads to a hidden corridor towards the staff quarters. The door is still there. Friedrich II died in 1920. His son, Friedrich III, inherited the castle and the extensive lands. This Friedrich was very interested in agriculture and horse breeding. The family was one of the largest landowners in Germany, because they also had properties in Baruth/Mark, which is close to Berlin.
WWII
Early in WWII, Friederich stays with his family in Baruth and learns that, without his permission, eighty prisoners of war from the Soviet Union have been housed by the SS in his castle in Klitschdorf. It’s not just that though. The prisoners of war who have to work in the forests are treated extremely poorly. For example, weak prisoners are denied medical care and executed in remote places on the grounds. Others starve and/or don’t get enough to drink. One evening, forest workers and the local butcher Heinrich Hirche can no longer tolerate this treatment of the prisoners of war and help them with bread, meat and potatoes. Three SS guards pay for this with meat. However, the story comes true. The forest workers flee and the butcher is summarily shot for his business.
Tragedy
When Zu Solms hears of this, he rushes to the NSDAP and this begins the tragedy for the family. Zu Solms says: I cannot tolerate, neither by the SS nor by the NSDAP, that people are shot on my property. I will also complain about this to my brother-in-law who is president of the German Red Cross. The result was that almost 30,000 Russian prisoners of war had to leave the Zu Solms compound in mid-1942. But this was only a Pyrrhic victory. He had portrayed himself negatively, and aggravated this by saying in 1944 that Hitler’s war would be lost long ago. The result was that he was formally dispossessed of his assets. One day after the failed assassination attempt (July 20, 1944) on Hitler by members of his own staff, Zu Solms was arrested and taken to the infamous Gestapo prison at der Prins-Albrecht-StraBe 8 in Berlin. His family fled to Namibia. During many night sessions, the castle owner was interrogated, but it was not possible to prove that he was involved in the assassination attempt. The end of the war came. Zu Solms-Baruth was liberated and left for his family in Africa. His health was very poor and Friedrich III zu Solms-Baruth died in 1951.
Female architects
The story is not over yet. In and after 1945, Russian soldiers wreaked havoc on Klizckow Castle. Everything of any value was either destroyed or transported to Russia. Later, homeless people living in the dilapidated castle caused a fire, and the beautiful castle was largely in ruins. Until the last years of the twentieth century, the Technical University of Wroclaw (former Breslau) tried to renovate the building. It was not until 2000 that Kliczcow’s renaissance became complete. The Polish company Integer had five female architects draw up a plan. With the help of foreign investors, the gigantic reconstruction and restoration was completed in a year and a half at a cost of six million euros. The result is astonishing. There is a beautiful castle that is both a luxury hotel and a conference venue.