Davids are mentioned in available sources for the first time only in 1531, named most probably after their first proprietor of the fifteenth century, perhaps a Prussian. As shown in the official accounts of the 1600, the property was at that time in possession of Achatius Borck, who owned four fiefs here. In subsequent years, the estate belonged to a Polish family - Drzewiecki. After the death of the owner, Jerzy Drzewiecki theslotsbay, his widow sold the whole property to the Dohnas in 1663.

 

Aleksander zu Dohna

The Dohnas Family (German: zu Dohna) - one of the most important, German aristocratic families of Prussia. The founder of the family’s Prussian line was a Teutonic Knights mercenary Stanislaus (†1504/05 ), a native of Upper Saxony, who took part in the Battle of Chojnice in 1454. For his contributions to the Order, he was given a grant of land in Wilczęty (German: Deutschendorf, Villa Teutonica). In subsequent years, the family’s wealth increased by possessions in Karwiny (German: Karwinden - 1469). In 1525, a son of Stanislaus - Peter of Dohna (1482-1553), received the Słobity village (German: Schlobbiten) from the Teutonic Order, which later became the headquarters of the family.

zu Dohna’s coat of arms

Słobity 1694-1723, a vast layout of palace and park from 1525 to 1945. Property and headquarters of one of the most important families of Prussia, the family of zu Dohna.  The Baroque architectonic and spatial layout created here was the époque’s most prominent project in Prussia. /M. and M. Garniec/

1694-1723

Dawidy Manor House, built by Johann Caspar Hindersin, Dohna’s architect, with distinct characteristics of Dutch Baroque. Small in cubic volume, with perfectly balanced proportions, two-floor, covered with a high mansard roof. Located nearby Słobity forests, it served as a hunting lodge, hunting events were operated here, as evidenced by, among others, the existence of two smokehouses and a large kitchen on the ground floor of the mansion, allowing for preparation of the game. In the nineteenth century, a lot of important social events were organized here. /M. and M. Garniec/

sketch by C. Lorck

Muhlhausen map, In the years 1862 to 1865 as a result of adjusting the Pasłęk-Młynary route there was a partial change in the spatial arrangement of the farm - one of the buildings was demolished then and, in the northern part, two living quarters for farm hands were probably built (only the northern one still preserved). In the early twentieth century, the southern part of the farm disappears, in the tetragon development of the farm on the west side of the road new buildings appear.

1884

North-West facade, Until the end of the war, the property remained in the hands of Alexander Fürst zu Dohna-Schlobitten 1899 to 1997 the last Słobity proprietor of the zu Dohna Family, who visited Dawidy several times after the war.

North-West facade

Dawidy in the 1970s, after 1945 the property was taken over by State Agricultural Farm, and after property’s liquidation, some of its parts (former living quarters for farm hands and farm’s development) were put in for lease, and then sold; one of the living quarters for farm hands and the coach house on the west side of the manor house, largely destroyed, were stripped off back in the seventies. By 1972 the manor house was inhabited by two families that drove it to a state of imminent collapse.

Dawidy in the 1970s

In 1976, the manor house and the surrounding park were successfully acquired from the State Treasury by Elżbieta and Stanisław Matuszewicz who, with a great amount of work and resources rebuilt it according to the original - with a slight modification of the interior design.

Stanisława Matuszewicz

The house manor in winter, In 2009, the manor and park complex was purchased by Jan Kozłowski and, gradually, the manor house with its park layout have been subjected to careful conservation.

The house manor in winter

It is getting prepared for a life to be, perhaps nicer, perhaps more elegant , perhaps ... but certainly very dear, it invites you to visit it, and maybe it will be remembered as by Alexander zu Dohna, the last owner of the Słobity property: Manor house’s vicinity

House manor in Dawidy today