Iš XIX a. Rietavo dvaro ir parko istorijos: archyvinių tyrimų atodangos

ENRietavas Manor Park is one of the most magnificent cultural history complexes in Lithuania, home not only to some ornamental plantations, but also to a unity of land surface shapes, a water system, buildings and various vegetation. In the general late-nineteenth century context of Samogitian towns, Rietavas was distinguished by its well-planned landscape and special attention to plants: from flower gardens to tree alleys forming separate m anor and city spaces. The research into documents of the Ogiński family archive allowed to add new data to the history of the creation of Rietavas Park, to determine the names of the gardeners who worked there and the year of their activity in Rietavas. Analysis of the sources revealed that in 1849-1855 the plants of Rietavas Manor were looked after by gardeners Antoni Malkeit and Bazily Romanowicz. During the period of 1858-1862 four Germ an gardeners worked and created in Rietavas: Chrystof Ferdynand Giepelt, who came from Saxony in August of 1858 and spent a year working in Rietavas; Wilhelm Rusch (Busch?), subject of the Prussian Kingdom, who came from Königsberg in April of 1861 and was granted a residence perm it in Rietavas Manor until June of 1862; Fredrich Braune (Braune?), gardener from Mensburg, settled in Rietavas in November of 1861 and in July of 1862 another gardener was established in Rietavas Manor - August Ulrich, subject of Prussia. The time of arrival of all these gardeners to Rietavas is later than the reconstruction works of the manor house, therefore their authorship as the planters of the m anor house and the “architects” of the park is questionable. Even if we cannot specifically name the architects of Rietavas Manor, based on the inventory data we can state that the owner of the m anor Ireneusz Ogiński was not only a client, but also an active participant in the process of park development.Rietavas owners extraordinary interest in agronomy is shown by his established agricultural school and the cherished special Agronomy folwark. Through special concern of Ireneusz Ogiński an incredibly abundant collection of rare and valuable plants was accumulated over a few decades, bringing the total num ber of plant units grown in the conservatory alone to 15,649. Seedlings to be planted in conservatories or greenhouses, as well as for outdoor planting, usually came from Hamburg, Königsberg, Tilsit and Klaipėda (Memel). The 1869 catalogue of orangery plants shows that in the late nineteenth century the owners of the m anor paid special attention to the formation of rosaries and acquisition of the new varieties of roses. A rich collection of roses has been accumulated over the decade - 981 bushes of 52 types of roses. The records in the sources of the large quantities of poplar seedlings and trees grown from seedlings suggest that the owners of the manor sought to plant all of the main manor and urban spaces with these trees. This conclusion is confirmed by the 1856 plan of Rietavas Manor with a visible pond planted with trees, paths and also shaped alleys. The work of Ireneusz Ogiński was continued by his son Bogdan, who considered the gardeners position in his estate the most prestigious and best-paid: at the end of the nineteenth century, gardener named Hayduk received an annual salary of 450 silver roubles, while the agronomist received 360 silver roubles.