Zamek Cesarski

The Imperial Castle is one of the youngest palaces in Europe. It was built between 1905 and 1910 for Kaiser Wilhelm II, when Poznan was under Prussian rule, to the design of the German architect Franz Schwechten. The heavy Neo-Romanesque style was chosen to look Germanic and to project imperial power over the Polish city.

The castle is the anchor of Poznan's early 20th-century imperial district, a run of grand buildings west of the Old Town. It reads as a piece of history you can walk into: built to overawe, later marked by the Second World War, and now a busy cultural centre. Much of it is open and free to look around, so it is an easy stop between the centre and the university quarter.

The castle was finished in 1910 and never served long as a royal residence. The Kaiser took a close hand in the design, and the building included a throne room and a courtyard rose garden with a fountain modelled on the Court of the Lions at the Alhambra in Spain. After the invasion of Poland in 1939, the German occupiers set out to turn the castle into a residence for Hitler. Albert Speer prepared the remodel, which reshaped many of the rooms, and an unfinished study from that scheme survives inside as a stark reminder of the period.

It now works as Centrum Kultury Zamek, a large cultural centre with exhibitions, cinema, concerts and cafes, so the interior is open and easy to look around. The building also houses the museum of the Poznan June 1956 uprising. The courtyard and the rose garden are pleasant to walk through, and guided tours cover the imperial rooms.

Half an hour is enough to walk the public spaces and the courtyard. Add an hour for an exhibition or a guided tour of the imperial rooms, which is the way to see the throne room and the wartime study.

The castle is on Swiety Marcin street, a short walk west of the Old Town. See the Poznan guide for getting around the city.

The castle links the imperial district with the historic core:

• The Old Market Square and the town hall goats, east in the Old Town.
• Stary Browar, the arts and shopping centre to the south.

Yes. It runs as the Zamek cultural centre, so the public areas, courtyard and rose garden are open and largely free. The historic imperial rooms are shown on guided tours.

It was built between 1905 and 1910 as a residence for Kaiser Wilhelm II, when Poznan was ruled by Prussia, and was designed to assert German power over the Polish city.