Biała Olecka - Billstein Manor in former East Prussia
Raised from ruins for the second time
Neo-Baroque manor house in former , built in the early 20th century for the Tolksdorff family. Symmetrical building flanked by two polygonal corner towers at the front.
The historic house was destroyed for the first time during the First World War, but was rebuilt afterwards according to the original design. After the Second World War, it was operated as a state-owned estate until the 1970s. The main building housed apartments and the office of the estate administration.
The grange with manor and farm buildings has been a registered monument in Poland since 1980. Shortly after the monument status was granted, there was a large-scale fire, during which the building was almost completely burnt out for the second time. The outer shell was restored by the current owner in the 1990s, while the interior work was still pending in 2019.
Biała Olecka is located in the northeast of today's Ermland-Masuria voivodeship, close to the border with Kaliningrad and Belarus. A few km west of the village is the Borken Forest (
Puszcza Borecka), which is one of the last large forest and nature reserves in former East Prussia.
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