Sobański palace is a lovely French castle in the tiny Polish town of Guzów. That in itself implies there's quite a story behind it, which goes back to the 1700s. The same wealthy local family owns the palace now as back then, but it hasn't been continuous. At least three times, new generations of the family had to buy back their home after hard times or confiscation. Along the way, Sobański palace has undergone additions, renovations, plunder, and decay.
Hitler himself spent a lot of time there, and actually signed the orders for the final capture of Warsaw in the living room. “Until the end of the occupation,” wrote Gabriela, “the Reich came to Guzów to guard this salon. Hitler left a letter to my father saying that he was very ashamed that the army had destroyed the palace so much…and then left.”
The Nazis murdered nearly 200 people in the area before leaving, including the Sobański Countess. As the Red Army approached, they fled in such haste that some Nazi soldiers were allegedly found locked in the basement by Russian soldiers, who continued to plunder and destroy the palace. The rest is basically communist history: in light of the agricultural reform, the palace was forced to become a now derelict sugar factory.
But now Sobański Palace is once again on its way back to glory. Read about the mansion and see plenty of pictures at Messy Nessy Chic.