The Collection of Drogosze Palace as an Example of Collecting Practices among the Prussian Nobility

Abstract

Built at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the palace in Drogoszy was one of the three largest residences in East Prussia. Its owners were representatives of the Dönhoff family. After the extinction of the male line, for almost fifty years the estate was managed by the female line of the Dönhoffs, notably Angelica Wilhelmina zu Dohna, née Dönhoff. After her death, the palace was taken over by representatives of the Silesian line of the Stolberg-Wernigerode family, who managed it until 1945. Over the centuries, successive owners amassed a valuable collection of works of art, paintings, furniture, and porcelain. The estate also included a library of nearly 10,000 volumes. The aim of this article is to characterize the rich collection gathered at Drogoszy and to examine the bibliophile interests of the palace's inhabitants, as well as to reconstruct court life on the borderlands between Prussia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Saxon period.