Poland Castle Offered to Elon Musk Once Helped Beethoven Escape Attackers
Glogowek town mayor invited Tesla CEO to build global headquarters of his industrial empire in 300-room 13th century monument
A 13th-century Polish castle with more than 300 rooms on offer to Elon Musk was once a fabled refuge of music genius Beethoven and, on another occasion, of a Polish king evading an advancing Swedish army. Beethoven’s somber hiding place to escape Napolean’s army has been offered as the global headquarters of the maverick industrialist. No wonder a social media post of Glogowek town’s Mayor Piotr Bujak offering the castle has aroused interest among the cyberworld denizens in the castle's history. Ensconced in a town of 5,000 people in Poland’s southwest, the castle is said to have lavish bathrooms decorated with exotic seashells, a theater, a printing house, a pharmacy, and one of the largest libraries in town.
Alex Webber writes on news website TVP World that Bujak’s offer is the latest twist in the castle's history. The pitch to Musk, who is seen as a rising star in the incoming Donald Trump dispensation, was made after reports that Musk, who controls electric vehicle maker Tesla, aerospace giant SpaceX, and social platform X, had his eyes on two Italian castles.
Comparing the town in the Silesian region with the climatic features of northern Italy, Bujak sought to draw attention to the “lavender fields and mountainous hiking trails” in the region. He highlighted the proximity of the town in Opole Voivodeship, to international airports in Katowice and Wrocław. The town is only 35km (22 miles) from the voivodeship’s capital Opole and close to the Czech border.
Castle Under Polish Municipality Ownership
Directly addressing Musk, he wrote on X (which, incidentally, is owned by Musk): “We [the municipality] are the only owners of the castle which will glow even more with a bit of work that needs to be done. It will be a jewel in our town and would be an impressive showcase of your investments.”
A move to the town would put Musk, reputedly world’s richest man, in hallowed grounds. Built by the Dukes of Opole, the castle was remodeled and expanded after Silesian Oppersdorff dynasty came into its possession in 1561. The castle would remain with the family’s possession until the arrival of the Soviet Red Army in 1945.
The castle’s past owners include a 17th century count, Jan Jerzy III, under whose patronage the castle was expanded to more than 300 rooms.
Among these were lavish bathrooms decorated with exotic seashells, as well as chambers housing a theater, a printing house, a pharmacy, and one of the largest libraries in the region. The castle has a central place in the Swedish Deluge of 1655 when the Scandinavian army stormed Poland.
King Jan Kazimierz took refuge in the castle, arriving in October along with 1,800 courtiers and stayed on for ten weeks. Thus, Glogowek came to be known as Poland’s temporary capital. The castle’s precincts thus became seminal moments in European history when alliances were formulated during the tumultuous days.
Kazimierz would return four years later, having abdicated the year before, and stayed for a while before finding a new life in France. In 1800, the castle witnessed a fire with much of its grandeur burnt down although the misfortune did not deter Beethoven from briefly staying there six years later.
Beethoven gifts harpischord
Although it might be history’s trivia, Beethoven was fleeing Prince Lichnowsky’s guards. The musical legend allegedly had an altercation with the prince following incessant pestering for musical entertainment and nearly thrashed him with a chair. An interesting tidbit to the story is that Beethoven dedicated his 4th Symphony in B flat major, opus 60, to his host, Count Franz Joachim Oppersdorff to show gratitude for the brief sanctuary. The maestro even gifted his harpsichord to the Count which is now on display in southern Poland’s Pszczyna Castle.
In 1921, when Silesia went to the polls to decide whether it should be absorbed into the newly established Second Republic of Poland, Oppersdorff supported Poland angering the town’s German majority.
Hounded from his estate, he relinquished the castle to his son, who would remain in charge until the Soviet Red Army marched In and took over the castle. Under the Red Army, the castle transitioned successively into a youth hostel, regional museum, an art gallery and a cultural center, eventually going into decline. It needs elaborate restoration and Musk’s search for an Italian castle has fired the town’s aspirations to rope him in to spend nearly 100 million zloty or $24.2 million.
