INTERIOR DECORATION IN THE FORMER SANATORIUM IN TRZEBIECHOW THE WORK OF HENRY VAN DE VELDE STATE OF RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION IN 2004-2005

A physiotherapy-diet sanatorium founded by Prince Heinrich VII Reuss-Köstritz and his wife, Princess Marie Alexandrine, was opened in Trzebiechow in 1905. The author of the project was Max Schündler, an architect from Zwickau. The decorations and outfitting of the stately interiors were entrusted to the Belgian artist Henry van de Velde. Extant parts of the former sanatorium include the buildings of the complex and the park. The absence of significant repair during the inter-war period proved conducive for the preservation of numerous elements of the original outfitting and interior design. In 2004 the connection of the monument with the name of the celebrated Belgian artist proved decisive for the inauguration of studies, and a year later – for the first conservation-restoration undertakings aimed at recreating the original colours of the interiors, whose essential element consists of the perfectly preserved window and door joinery, the stair balustrades, the panelling and the benches. The conducted research disclosed the original intense colours either harmonising or contrasting with the walls and ceilings embellished with original ornamental motifs. The eight discovered decoration motifs of the interior constitute the most extensive set of the artist's preserved works in Europe; in 2005 they were subjected to conservation. Both the investigations and the conservation and restoration carried out in the Trzebiechow sanatorium have not been completed. Nonetheless, it may be said with full conviction that such a copious programme of interior design by Henry van de Velde has not been found elsewhere, a fact which enhances the rank of this particular complex among the cultural resources not only of Poland but also on a European scale