Refugia na peryferiach. Pałace w Słobitach i Birżach jako przykłady architektury rodów kalwińskich

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Collection:
Mokslo publikacijos / Scientific publications
Document Type:
Žurnalų straipsniai / Journal articles
Language:
Lenkų kalba / Polish
Title:
Refugia na peryferiach. Pałace w Słobitach i Birżach jako przykłady architektury rodów kalwińskich
Alternative Title:
Sanctuary in the peripheries. Palaces in Słobity and Birże as examples of Calvinist families’ architecture
Authors:
Baumann, Hubert L
In the Journal:
Biuletyn historii sztuki, 2026, 88, 1, 41-66
Subject terms:
LT
Architektūra / Architecture; Bajorai. Didikai. Valdovai / Gentry. Nobles. Kings; Krikščionybė. Teologija / Christianity. Theology; 1569 - 1795. Naujieji laikai. ATR; Vokietija (Germany); Lietuva (Lithuania); Biržai.
Summary / Abstract:

ENThe article addresses the issue of residential architecture in Ducal Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the first half of the 17th century, focusing on two examples of aristocratic residences: the Dohn Palace in Słobity (German: Schlobitten) and the Radziwiłł Palace in Birże (now Biržai, Lithuania). Both complexes were founded by members of Evangelical Reformed families: Abraham zu Dohna and Janusz Radziwiłł, respectively, and are an expression of their religious, social and political identity in the context of Lutheranism and Catholicism, which were dominant in the region. The first part of the article presents the origins and growth of the zu Dohna family, with particular emphasis on the activities of Fabian and Abraham zu Dohna, who played a significant role in the conversion of Prince John Sigismund Hohenzollern to Calvinism and in consolidating the political position of their own family. The work and activities of Abraham, an intellectual, soldier and designer, who in the years 1621–1624 developed the design for the residence in Słobity, are analysed in detail. His palace, preserved in a unique collection of architectural drawings, is an original combination of modern spatial, technological and ideological solutions. Solutions unique in the region, such as two-flight staircases, a sewage system, a separate library pavilion and an entrance positioned non-axially, testify to the modernity of the architectural concept and its ideological foundation. The second part is devoted to an analysis of the palace complex in Birże, whose creation is attributed to a multi-stage building process initiated by Janusz Radziwiłł and continued by his son Bogusław. Architects Jan Ulrich and Teofil Crell-Spinowski played a key role in the implementation of the project.Archaeological, inventory and source research (mainly Lithuanian) made it possible to reconstruct the form of the palace and to identify a number of analogies with the zu Dohna residence. Among the latter, the most important are the H-shaped layout, the arrangement of the staircases, the absence of a central entrance, and the layout of ceremonial halls being functionally connected with the avant-corps arrangement. Despite the differences in style (as the architectural costume of the Birże residence was closer to Italian models), spatial and ideological analogies are too numerous to be considered accidental. In the third part of the article, the author focuses on Jacques Perret’s treatise Des fortifications et artifices, published in 1601, which served the Calvinist elite as a sui generis ideological spatial model. This work, consisting of engravings depicting ideal cities, temples and residences, was a manifesto of an Evangelical Reformed vision of the world, based on harmony, spatial order and biblical values. Although containing no technical details, Perret’s treatise offered a set of architectural forms with a strong symbolic weight, addressed to the educated Protestant elite. An analysis of the design of the palace in Słobity shows that Abraham zu Dohna adopted the model from one of Perret’s engravings almost literally, which makes his residence one of the most complete examples of the reception of this concept in Central Europe. The design of the palace in Birże also bears traces of inspiration derived from Perret’s treatise, which was indirectly present in the intellectual milieu of the Radziwiłł family through the architects, cartographers and engineers working for Janusz and Bogusław. In the conclusion of the article, the author points to biographical and ideological similarities between the founders of both residences.Both Abraham zu Dohna and Janusz Radziwiłł were members of families that stood in religious and political opposition to dominant trends of their regions. Both founders treated architecture as a form of manifestation of their beliefs: an affirmation of their own identity and connection to the community rather than a mark of opposition to other faiths. For this reason, the palaces in Słobity and Birże emerge as “sanctuaries”, physical and spiritual spaces where the idea of a Calvinist community operating in conditions of exclusion and mistrust gained a material presence. In the light of analyses carried out thus far, the author proposes including both residences in a broader discourse on denomination-related architecture and its ideological dimension in the early-modern era, as well as expanding the research on the presence of theoretical treatises in the material culture of peripheral regions. The article brings a new perspective to research on Protestant heritage in Central and Eastern Europe, presenting architecture as an important vehicle and expression of denominational identity. Keywords: Słobity (Schlobitten), Birże (Biržai), zu Dohna family, Radziwiłł family, Protestantism, Calvinist architecture, palace, 17th-century palatial architecture, Ducal Prussia, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, Jacques Perret, Constantin Tencalla, Jan Ulrich.

DOI:
10.36744/bhs.4480
ISSN:
0006-3967; 2719-4612
Subject area:
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https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/49846
Updated:
2026-08-01 22:06:27
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