A Home in the Heart of Industrial Łódź

Hidden among the factories and workers’ houses of Księży Młyn, the Herbst Palace offers a glimpse into a very different side of 19th-century Łódź. Built for Matylda Scheibler and Edward Herbst after their marriage in 1875, the neo-Renaissance villa became the private residence of a family closely connected with the city's powerful textile industry.

What makes the palace particularly interesting is its setting. This was not an isolated country estate, but part of a self-contained industrial settlement created by the Scheibler family. The factory, workers’ housing, gardens and the Herbst residence stood close together, revealing how closely work, wealth and everyday life were connected in industrial Łódź.

A Wedding Gift from the Scheiblers

The villa was commissioned by Karol Scheibler for his eldest daughter Matylda and her husband Edward Herbst, who managed the Scheibler family's industrial enterprises. Construction began around 1875, and the design is attributed to the Łódź architect Hilary Majewski. A ballroom, orangery and additional service buildings were later added to the residence, creating a larger residential complex rather than simply a single villa.

The estate also included a red-brick stable and carriage house designed by Adolf Zeligson, with living quarters in its tower. The architecture reflected the social position of its residents, but the buildings were also closely connected to the practical functioning of the household.

Rooms Made for Two Different Worlds

Inside, the division between public and private life was clear. The ground floor contained the more impressive rooms used for entertaining and receiving guests, including a mirror salon, dining room, study and other richly decorated interiors. The upper floor was more private, with bedrooms, bathrooms and rooms for the family and guests.

Today, the interiors form the heart of the museum. Furniture, paintings and decorative arts from the 19th and early 20th centuries recreate the atmosphere of a wealthy industrial family home. Recent conservation and archival research also allowed the museum to bring the interiors closer to their original appearance, including reconstructed details and wallpaper patterns based on historical evidence.

From Private Residence to Museum

The Herbst family remained connected with the residence until 1942. After the Second World War, the palace was nationalised and used for a number of very different purposes, including a training centre, a day-care facility and the headquarters of ORMO. Years of inappropriate use left the complex seriously damaged.

The Museum of Art in Łódź took over the residence in 1976, when the buildings required major renovation. After extensive restoration and conservation, the complex was transformed into a museum of historic interiors and became one of the places where the industrial heritage of Łódź could be experienced from the inside.

A Palace Surrounded by Factories

The most fascinating part of a visit is perhaps the relationship between the residence and its surroundings. From the palace, the world of the industrial city is never far away: the former Scheibler factories, the workers’ settlement and the other buildings of Księży Młyn form the wider historical landscape.

In 2015, the residence became part of the “multicultural industrial landscape of Łódź” recognised as a Monument of History. The distinction covers a wider historic area of the city, including the Scheibler industrial and residential complex, Księży Młyn and other important remnants of 19th-century Łódź.

Where the Story Continues

Today, the palace is part of the Museum of Art in Łódź and houses the permanent exhibition Herbst Family – Unfinished Stories, which uses archival photographs, documents and film material to explore two generations of the family and their connection with the development of industrial Łódź. Visitors can also see the historic interiors and the palace garden.

For us, that combination is what makes the Herbst Palace worth visiting. It is not simply a beautifully preserved villa, but one part of a much larger story — a place where the wealth of Łódź's industrial elite, the lives of factory workers and the city's transformation can still be read in the same landscape.