The Royal Palaces of the Baltic Republics



Europe is home to numerous splendid palaces that either are or have been inhabited by royalty. But not all are as well known as Versailles in France or Buckingham Palace in Britain. In this video we’ll explore the royal past of the Baltics through the residences of the region’s former rulers. From the Baroque summer palace of Peter the Great in Estonia, to the splendid residences of the Curonian Duke Ernst Johann von Biron in Latvia, and finally the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius.

→ MUSIC

Autumnal, Op.8 – Complete Performance – Sergei Prokofiev
By “Unknown” (http://musopen.org/)

Symphony No.4, F Minor, Op.36 – II. Andantino – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
By “European Archive” (http://musopen.org/)

Enigma variations, Op. 36 – Theme (Andante) – Edward Elgar
By “Skidmore College Orchestra” (http://musopen.org/)

Enigma variations, Op. 36 – Variation I (L’istesso tempo) – Edward Elgar
By “Skidmore College Orchestra” (http://musopen.org/)

Concerto in E-flat Major for Oboe & Strings – Robert Woodcock
By “The London Baroque Orchestra” (http://musopen.org/)

Swan Lake Op.20 – Act III Pt.1 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
By “European Archive” (http://musopen.org/)

Suite No.2 in D Major – Georg Friedrich Händel
By “Bath Festival Orchestra” (http://musopen.org/)

Clarinet Concerto in F minor – II. Andante – Ludwig Spohr
By “European Archive” (http://musopen.org/)

String Quartet no. 2 in D Major – III. Nocturne Andante – Alexander Borodin
By “Musopen String Quartet” (http://musopen.org/)

Amicus Meus – Tomás Luis de Victoria
By “Anonymous” (http://musopen.org/)

The Art of Fugue, BWV. 1080 – Contrapunctus V – Johann Sebastian Bach
By “George Malcolm” (http://musopen.org/)

Hipocondrie à 7 Concertanti, ZWV 187 – Jan Dismas Zelenka
By “Pro Musica Bohemica” (http://musopen.org/)

Concerto in G Major – Unico Wilhelm Wassenaer
By “The Stuttgart Baroque Orchestra” (http://musopen.org/)

→ SOURCES

https://kadriorumuuseum.ekm.ee/en/introduction/history-and-building/

https://www.kadriorupark.ee/park-eng/museums/kadriorg-art-museum

https://rundale.net/en/the-palace/history/

https://mnki.pl/pl/obiekt_tygodnia/2012/pokaz/118,wilno_z_albumu_widokow_historycznych_polski_seria_ii_pl__75,1

https://www.valdovurumai.lt/en/palace-history/i/5371/historical-outline/

source

42 thoughts on “The Royal Palaces of the Baltic Republics”

  1. I’ve been wanting to make a video about Mindaugas II for a long time, but I realized that his story could work as an intro here instead. It did get kind of long though 😅 … But it’s fascinating how many crowns he almost got!

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  2. The rich cultural heritage of Eastern Europe is often overshadowed by the authoritarian gloom and concrete buildings of the Cold War Era.
    It was interesting to know the cultural treasures of the Baltic states and their dynamic history.

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  3. It brought me joy to hear that the Palace of the Grand Duchy was not left to be forgotten to time. It is truly brilliant that many countries that were downtrodden and persecuted in the past centuries have been able to reclaim their heritage and their history, and that they now have the opportunity to reconstruct such brilliant monuments as the Palace. Thank you for such an informative video about an area of Europe too often overlooked!

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  4. i’m from estonia, i was surprised to see this video, i have been to the kadriorg palace at least twice, one as a school trip and once into the rose garden where the best graduates are invited to a party by the president

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  5. Fate has been unkind to the Jelgava palace. Once upon a time, the main residence of the Dukes of Courland-Semigallia, for a while the main residence of the French Bourbon dynasty, where King Louis XVIII wrote the biography of Marie Antoinette, it once surpassed Rundāle in scale, opulence, and fame. And yet, after a few destructive events, it has become a shell of it's former self, and it's prominence has been taken over by it's younger, smaller sibling in Rundāle, which historically was considered but a provincial hunting lodge.

    As a side note, I've heard claims that Jelgava Palace might be cursed. The northern wing, in particular, has burned multiple times—in 1744, 1788, 1805, and 1816. The entire palace was burned down in 1919, and again in 1944, with more recent, small-scale fires occurring in 1992, and 2024.

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  6. What an incredible video! Thank you so much for creating this giving us all this history and sharing all of the beauty of these areas. The narration is wonderful. It's so smooth and easy to listen to that lovely voice.

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  7. Everything built by a 7 feet tall guy who decided he wanted to drag his kingdom, kicking on and screaming into the modern world turning it into an empire Peter the Great at true Chad

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