Gulbene white castle

The complex of Vecgulbene Manor includes not only the White Palace – the most impressive and beautiful building built under the influence of the Neo-Renaissance style in the Baltics, but also the Arena which was for a long time the largest closed arena in the Baltics.

In the vicinity of the palace of Riga Archbishop which was destroyed in 1577, in the 17th century, the manor houses began to be built. Its owners have changed over the ages several times, until in 1802, it became the property of the family of Baron von Wolff. The construction of the Vecgulbene manor, created during that time, has survived to the present day. It includes two castles – the White Palace and the Red Palace. The White Palace was built in the Neo-Renaissance style and the Red Palace in the Neo-Gothic style.

The time of construction of the White Palace is not clearly known. It is possible that the castle was built around 1840, when the owner of the castle was Rudolph Gottlieb Magnus von Wolff. The Red Palace was built by Heinrich von Wolff for his beloved wife Marissa. The exact time of the construction and the author of the project are unknown. The construction of the castle dates back to the second half of the 19th century.

Both buildings were burned down in 1905. Both buildings were later renovated. The White Palace lost its historical interiors, but the Red Palace after the reconstruction, became a heavy one-volume building, which is waiting for its rebirth in its ancient appearance. Both buildings are cultural monuments of national importance. There was an elementary school in the premises of the Red Palace from the 1920s to 2004. Flats were created in the White Palace after World War II, the inhabitants of which gradually degraded the building. The palace was destroyed by fire several times and has not been restored until now. In the immediate vicinity, the manor household buildings and residential buildings have been preserved – the servant house, the arena, the creamery, the orangery (now the Gulbene Municipality History and Art Museum), the byre, the granary, the guard house, the Lutheran church, etc.

The four-star hotel “Vecgulbenes muiža” (“Vecgulbene Manor”) is located in the arena building of Vecgulbene Manor.
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