Exhibition of the Count Tiškevičius Family in Palanga Address: Vytauto Str. 17, LT-00101, Palanga. Tel.: (8-460) 53 501, (8-460) 51 319. E-mail: vilija.pgm[at]takas.lt  Web Site: http://www.pgm.lt

Count Juozapas and Countess Sofija Tiškevičius. Origins of the Palanga resort   Sofija and Juozapas Tiškevičiai. KM GEK 17140 Michał Tyszkiewicz (1724–1839), son of Józef, was the first to show interest in the Palanga coastal area. Palanga was later governed by his son, the landlord of Vokė and Valozhyn, Józef Tyszkiewicz (1805–1844), with the coastal area becoming the domain of his youngest son, Józef Tyszkiewicz (1835–1891), after his death. It is this youngest son to whom the origin of Palanga as a resort town is accredited. In 1877–1880 near the estate on left bank of the Rąžė River he laid the foundations for the resort by having a Kurhaus, several villas and a bathing-place built, and later, in 1884–1888 he oversaw the construction of a 630 metre long pier. A brickyard was established in Vilmiškė. The Count’s steamship, the “Phoenix”, transported bricks and agricultural produce from Palanga to Liepāja (Latvia), returning with vacationers and food products. Count Feliksas and Countess Antanina Tiškevičius. Origins of the new residence   Feliksas ir Antanina Tiškevičiai. Photographer  Josef Löwy. 1893 KM GEK 17157 The Palanga residence of the Tyszkiewicz family was designed by two renowned European architects: German architect Franz Heinrich Schwechten (1841–1924) designed the palace, while the French landscape architect Édouard François André (1840–1911) was responsible for the park‘s design. The Palanga palace was built in 1897. The architect devised a symmetrical, two-storey U-shaped building with two short wings at the sides, the front façade facing the north. Work on the park‘s landscape design lasted from 1895 to 1899, and included the formation of the park‘s design structure, the planting of trees and shrubs and the construction of minor architectural features. The park design was created and realised by the combined efforts of father and son, Édouard and René André, according to the so-called le style mixte manner, where, extending from the palace building the park runs into the surrounding forest.   Summers in Palanga  Childrens in the Park Of Tiškevičius (Palanga).  KM GEK 19390-13 The surviving photographs, sketches and artworks reveal the cultural wealth and beauty surrounding the aristocratic family. The Palanga residence of the Tyszkiewicz family and the park which encircles it is a form of European culture expressing the harmonious merger between the grand palace building, the valuable artworks displayed within and the cultured palace lifestyle keeping alive artist-patron traditions. It features natural surrounds with the unique aesthetic qualities of areas divided into greater and smaller spaces, terraces, ponds, rose gardens, walkways and endless paths, grotto and leafy groves. The spirit of the palace‘s artistic surroundings was captured by Maironis in his poem “Znad Biruty” (“From Birutė’s Hill”) in the early 20th century, and in the theatrical lines translated into: “The palace comes alight in the evening, The hall entry opening widely, For in the drawing-room a little play is to be performed […]. “And in the palace – a theatre. With noble matrons Seated with their daughters, all pure as roses. […]. Yes, a concert in this palace with blazons upon the walls, Under the chandeliers, a most stately crowd has gathered […]”.     The Tiškevičius family‘s plans for the development of the Palanga resort   Project of the Palanga’s Park. Lithography, 1899. The Tyszkiewicz family not only added aesthetic value to an old Lithuanian town by the Baltic Sea with their European aristocratic residence, but played a major role in the foundation of the Palanga resort, known for its valuable cultural monuments, impressive natural surrounds, exclusive Kurhaus and other elaborate villas, a new church, pier and romantic pathways. Regardless of the fact that not all of the plans for the seaside health resort actually eventuated, the surviving Palanga resort structures still represent one of the grandest and most original locations intended for the Baltic Sea region.

Concept authors: Romualdas Budrys Saulius Striuogaitis   Exhibition based on publications by Romualdas Budrys and Julius Kanarskas   Exhibition artist Laima Prišmontaitė   Translators: Albina Danutė Strunga Viktoras Katilius (poemos fragmentai / fragment of a poem)   Iconography taken from: The Kretinga Museum The Lithuanian Central State Archive The collections of Tadas Grinevičius and Henrikas Grinevičius   Graphic design and layout by The “Savas takas & Ko" Design Studio   Printed by "Scriptum"