Palace

The palace in Benice dates back to 1867. It belonged to the von Flemming family, owners of the largest estates in Pomerania. The palace’s architect remains unknown.

The first historical mention of the village dates back to 1365. From the Middle Ages until 1945, it was owned by the von Flemming family. The current palace was built on the site of a previously existing 16th-century manor house, at a time when Thamm Hasso von Flemming was the owner of the estate. The last owners were Curd von Flemming and his son Hasso von Flemming.

The palace covers an area of 1,530 m². It was built in the Neoclassical style. The building features a risalit (bearing the coat of arms—a wolf and a goat) on the main façade, a glass-enclosed and richly decorated veranda, and a portico supporting the balcony; the entire structure is covered by a hipped roof.

The palace was built on a rectangular plan, with its front facing west; it is a two-story structure set on high basements. The palace’s form is compact. The interior layout consists of two and a half wings. On the garden façade, two single-axis pseudo-projections frame the three-axis central section, distinguished by the tall, semicircular windows of the former ballroom. On the southern side façade, there is a projection enclosed on three sides.

After World War II, the lands and the palace were taken over by the State Agricultural Farms, and in 1966, an Agricultural Technical School was established in the palace.  Currently, the park and palace complex is owned by the Kamień Pomorski County Office. It is operated by the Upper Secondary School Complex in Benice.

Nearby are preserved farm buildings, including a blacksmith’s shop, a greenhouse, and a servants’ quarters, as well as an 8-hectare manor park. In the eastern part of the park, there are two water reservoirs with a combined area of approximately 0.6 hectares, connected by a drainage canal. The park was designed in the landscape style. The main decorative elements were individual trees and large clusters of native tree species. The park’s current landscape is shaped by a rich stand of mature trees, including European beech, yew, red oak, English oak, European hornbeam, European ash, alder, linden, elm, horse chestnut, walnut, and white poplar. The park’s understory consists of over a dozen species of shrubs, including black elder, common gooseberry, common ivy, common bird cherry, and cornelian dogwood.

The park is in good condition but requires clearing of self-sown plants and revitalization.

The palace and park complex was entered into the register of historic monuments in 2005 under the following numbers: manor park – reg. no. 869, palace – reg. no. A-211