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Szembek, Piotr hrabia

Polish lord of the manor and member of the Reichstag of the German Empire.

Overview list: “Polish members of the Reichstag of the North German Confederation and the German Empire”

Szembek, Piotr hrabia (Peter Graf von Szembek, Peter von Szembek, Peter Graf Szembek, Peter Graf von Szembeck, Peter Graf-Comte Szembeck), 1871-74 member of the Reichstag of the German Empire. *11.4.1843 in Siemianice/Siemianice (województwo wielkopolskie) near Opatow/Opatów, †16.5.1896 ibid., lord of the manor at Siemianice near Opatow with Szembek manor/Pałac Szembeków. In March 1871 he was elected as a member of the Polish parliamentary group in the German Reichstag for the constituency of Adelnau-Schildberg/Odolanów-Ostrzeszów with a majority of 79.02%. In 1894 he completely rebuilt the castle he had inherited from his grandfather, Piotr hr. Szembek (1788-1866) in a neo-Renaissance style. The castle housed the families important collection of art from the 17th to the 19th century: this included antique furniture (in particular Danzig cabinets), French, Italian and Dutch paintings from the 17th century, watercolours by Juliusz Kossak, and a collection of old weapons. In 1881 he married Maria Countess Fredro (1862-1937) in Lemberg. She enlarged the collections with works she had inherited from her family and established the castle as an important centre of Polish culture. Maria Countess Szembek was known for her social and Polish nationalist views and supported a secret Polish school in the castle, where she taught Polish language and history in order to prevent Polish children from becoming germanised. The collection was lost during the German occupation.

Further reading:

Deutscher Parlaments-Almanach, Ausg. 9, Leipzig 1871, 267; A. Phillips: Historisch-politisches Jahrbuch, 1. Jahrgang, 1. Hälfte, Berlin 1880, http://www.archive.org; Reichstagsprotokolle 1867-1895, Register 23; A. Kotowski: Zwischen Staatsräson und Vaterlandsliebe, Düsseldorf 2007, 93.

Online:

http://zhsf.gesis.org, Parlamentarierportal, BIORAB Kaiserreich online
http://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/
http://www.reichstagsprotokolle.de
http://www.sejm-wielki.pl
Pałac Szembeków, http://www.spsiemianice.pl/index.php/nasza-szkola/o-szkole/historia/zabytki-siemianic-i-okolic/14-palac-szembekow-w-siemianicach


Axel Feuß, October 2016


Link to the minutes of the Reichstag:

http://www.reichstagsprotokolle.de

 

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