Conference venue
Będlewo – Palace, the Potocki Family, Mathematics
Będlewo is a village in the Stęszew Commune (gmina), Poznań County (powiat), in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (województwo wielkopolskie). It is picturesquely situated near the Wielkopolski National Park, southwest of Poznań’s city center and close to the Poznań–Wrocław route. The village’s main street ends with a grand palace-and-park complex featuring a neo-Gothic residence in the English style, surrounded by an extensive landscape park.
Since 1996, the palace complex has belonged to the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Instytut Matematyczny Polskiej Akademii Nauk) and serves as a Research and Conference Center. The grounds include a historic palace, a manor outbuilding, a gardener’s cottage, a building containing an auditorium, a carriage house, and—built after 1997—a hotel and conference rooms. All of these structures are set within a 9-hectare park with historic trees, abundant plant life, a fountain, ponds, and an island featuring a romantic grotto.
Będlewo boasts a long and fascinating history. The first records refer to the late 12th century, when the village was owned by the Łodzia knightly family. The progenitor of this line is said to have been Hugon Łodzia, who lived at the turn of the 12th century. After a brief period in the 17th century under the Grodzicki family, and then the Malechowski family, the village was taken over in 1694 by the Potocki family of the Pilawa coat of arms, who belonged to the Greater Poland branch of the clan and owned Będlewo until the 20th century.
One of the most prominent owners of Będlewo was Bolesław Eulogiusz Potocki of the Pilawa coat of arms (1829–1898). After inheriting the estate from his father, he expanded it by acquiring further villages: Wronczyn, Dymaczewo, Zamysłowo, Srock, Wojnowice, and Dakowy Mokre. He greatly increased the profitability and productivity of the estate by introducing modern methods of running a farm, including new management techniques as well as updated approaches to crop cultivation and animal husbandry.
The Palace
In 1866, Bolesław Potocki began constructing a new residence to replace the thatched manor located by the estate’s entrance gate. The result was a palace with an intriguing architecture in the style of Romantic English Neo-Gothic, laid out on an irregular plan and composed of several sections. The structure that remains today has a two-story main building with a portico topped by a terrace. On both sides of the main block are one- and two-story sections, while to the left of the entrance stands a three-story tower containing a staircase. Distinctive features include numerous turrets, pinnacles, and crenellations. The interior retains its original rich décor in the styles of English Gothic Revival, Neo-Renaissance, and Neo-Gothic. The palace’s designer is unknown, although he may have been affiliated with the Berlin architectural milieu of the time.
The Park
The palace is surrounded by a historic, expansive English-style park covering about 9 hectares, merging into a woodland park. Within the park grow historic and unique trees protected by law. The park was formed in the second half of the 19th century and molded to take advantage of the area’s natural terrain. Characteristic features of 19th-century landscape garden design can be found here, such as a marble fountain on one side of the palace, flower beds on a raised terrace, broad lawns, landscaped greenery, and two ponds connected by a channel on the other side. One pond contains a man-made island with a romantic grotto, once crowned by a wooden, lattice-work gazebo. An orangery and a pheasantry originally stood between the park and the farmyards; neither structure has survived to the present day.
Bolesław Potocki
Count Bolesław Potocki was not only a skilled landowner but also a social and economic activist in Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) during the period of Prussian rule. He was among the founders of the newspaper Dziennik Poznański and provided financial support for the January Uprising. In 1866, he was granted lifetime membership in the Poznań Society of Friends of Learning (Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk). In 1870, together with Mieczysław Kwilecki, he established both the Agricultural-Industrial Bank and the Kwilecki, Potocki and Company Bank in Poznań. He also supported the “Bazar Poznański” cooperative and the founding of the Polish Theatre, for which he donated his own garden. In 1889, he received from Pope Leo XIII the hereditary Roman countship and a new version of the Pilawa coat of arms.
Bolesław Potocki married twice. By his first wife, Helena née Kwilecka, he had a daughter, Helena. With his second wife, Józefa Mycielska, he had two sons, Józef and Bolesław, and a daughter, Felicja. He died in 1898 and was buried in Łódź near Stęszew.
Following Bolesław Potocki’s death, his eldest son, Count Józef Potocki, inherited Będlewo. Another portion of the estate went as a dowry to Felicja, who, together with her husband Count Maciej Mielżyński, resided in Dakowy Mokre. Their marriage ended tragically with Felicja’s death in 1913. The unfortunate story of their relationship is linked to the “Legend of the Black Lady of Będlewo.” After the childless death of Józef Potocki, Będlewo passed to Helena née Potocka Miączyńska, Bolesław Potocki’s daughter from his first marriage; she died in Będlewo in 1937. In 1933, she bestowed Będlewo on her daughter, Elżbieta née Miączyńska Ledóchowska. The estate remained in the Potocki family’s hands until the outbreak of World War II.
The Palace in the 20th Century and Today
World War II had tragic consequences for the palace and its surroundings, much like many other Polish estates. After evicting the owners, the Germans placed the Commission of the Third Reich for the Strengthening of Germandom in the palace. During this occupation, the interiors were severely damaged—wall paintings in the Knights’ Hall were painted over, portraits of Polish kings were destroyed, and much of the palace’s furnishings were ruined. The carriage collection and other property were looted, and by the war’s end, all buildings had been ransacked.
After Będlewo’s liberation in January 1945, the estate was taken over by the Polish State Treasury. The palace was then repurposed for educational use and successively housed a Rural Agricultural School, a Land Survey School, and an Agricultural Vocational School until 1975.
The palace building underwent numerous renovations. In 1973, it was listed in the Register of Historic Monuments, followed in 1999 by other farm buildings (the gatehouse, the coach stable, the farmyard). In 1976, the palace and park were acquired by the Poznań branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences to serve as an Artistic and Creative Work Center. From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, it was professionally renovated by the Monument Conservation Workshop (Pracownia Konserwacji Zabytków), restoring its former splendor. At that time, valuable wall paintings were uncovered, the roof was clad in copper, and steps were taken to protect the building from damp.
Since 1996, the palace and park complex has been owned by the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Instytut Matematyczny Polskiej Akademii Nauk) as its Research and Conference Center. In 1997, a modern hotel was built, and the carriage house was reconstructed to accommodate a lecture hall. A new reception building and tower were erected, retaining a warning bell; the manor outbuilding and the stable (now conference halls) were rebuilt, featuring a restored horse’s head above the entrance.
The renovated historic buildings, combined with modern facilities, make the palace in Będlewo one of the largest conference and research centers in Poland. It primarily hosts gatherings of mathematicians—conferences and workshops organized by the Banach Center. However, scholars from other fields are also welcome, as it provides an excellent and peaceful setting for courses, conferences, training sessions, and team-building events. The restored historic interiors, including the Knight’s Restaurant and the revitalized park with its ponds, also allow for numerous events to be held here, not limited solely to academic purposes.
Sources
https://www.impan.pl/pl/pozostale-informacje/osrodek-badawczo-konferencyjny-w-bedlewie
Address
Pałac Będlewo
Będlewo, ul. Parkowa 1
62-060 Stęszew
Contact
+48 61 449 91 46
bedlewo@impan.pl
