The Throne Room

Look closely at the eagles. There are eighty six of them, each embroidered in silver thread on the red velvet, and they have a story. When the castle was looted in nineteen thirty nine the German occupiers cut them off and took them away. Decades later one turned up in an American collection and was given back, and it served as the pattern for the rest, which were embroidered anew during the reconstruction. The gilded throne chair itself is a copy made after the original was lost. The walls carry gilded panelling and portraits, and the ceiling, the chandeliers and the parquet floor were all rebuilt from photographs and salvaged fragments.

The Throne Room connects the Knights' Hall on one side with the Conference Room on the other, where the king kept portraits of his fellow monarchs of Europe. The whole suite was designed to impress foreign envoys with the dignity of a kingdom that was, in reality, being torn apart by its neighbours. Stanisław August abdicated in seventeen ninety five and died in exile in Saint Petersburg, and after him the castle served Russian governors, Polish presidents and finally the war. The reconstructed throne is a symbol of the country's survival rather than of any king.

Did You Know? Only one of the original silver eagles from the cloth of honour survived the war; it came back from the United States and became the model for all the others.