Fire ravages Poland’s Ksiaz Castle

Fire tore through the roof of one of Poland’s most imposing castles on Wednesday afternoon, causing severe damage to the landmark in Walbrzych, Lower Silesia.

Firemen battled with the blaze at Ksiaz Castle for several hours before the flames were finally extinguished.

There were no casualties, but it is estimated that 500 square metres of the roof space were destroyed.

”We were trying to get to the source of fire, both from inside and outside,” commented Lower Silesian fire brigade spokesman Krzysztof Gielsa.

”The action was difficult, owing to the type of building,” he noted.

Gielsa said that police and the district prosecutor would launch an investigation on Thursday morning.

At present, it is unclear what caused the fire.

The damage could be as much as a million zloty (239,518 euro).

Walbrzych became Polish after Poland’s borders were shifted west following World War II.

Prior to the war, Ksiaz Castle (then Germany’s Schloss Furstenstein) had belonged to the Hochberg family. However, in 1944 Hitler confiscated the castle, as owner Count Alexander of Hochberg had Polish citizenship, while his brother had become an English citizen in 1932.