History of the Experimental Centre
The Department of Animal Nutrition and Fodder Farming started its activity at the Agricultural Experimental Centre in Gorzyń in 1946. The team, led at that time by Professor Kazimierz Gawęcki, conducted research on breeding swine and in the field of ensilage. In 1960, an experimental pheasant farm was launched to conduct nutritional research on game pheasants. As part of the expansion of the existing experimental centre, in 1979 an experimental henhouse for research on poultry was built. Furthermore, in 1980-1981 a building for research on sheep was built.
On April 1, 1993, the existent Station of the Department of Animal Nutrition in Gorzyń was transformed into an independent unit: Animal Nutrition Experimental Centre.
History of the Gorzyń village
"In a place where roads meet ..."
The village of Gorzyń is one of the 26 villages in the Międzychód Commune. The Międzychód Commune, on the other hand, is one of the four communes of the Międzychodzkie County and one of the 226 communes of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, situated at its western end.
Gorzyń is therefore a beautifully situated village in the Land of a Hundred Lakes, in a place where roads leading to different parts of the world connect (at the intersection of local roads to Drezdenko via Międzychód, to Łowyń and further Miedzichów, with the national road No. 24 leading from Poznań) to Skwierzyna and further to Gorzów, next to the railway line).
In 2015, Gorzyń celebrated its six hundredth anniversary. The first mentions of this village – in those days called Gorzin - were recorded in documents from 1415. The village was a knight's property and over the centuries was the property of several Polish and German noble families. The first known owner was Mikołaj, that is Nikiel from Gorzyń, Gorzeński (Gorzyń from the 15th to the 17th century was in the hands of this distinguished family). At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Gorzeński family got rid of their property in Gorzyń and moved, among others, to the purchased Śmiełów and Dobrzyca. Then the property was taken over by the Bukowiecki and von Schlichtyng families.
The next owners were the Unrugs - an old noble German family that came to Greater Poland from Silesia. The family was connected with Gorzyń through the Międzychód estate, which was purchased in 1597 by Krzysztof Unruh. His descendants also extended their estates to other localities, some of them changed their surname to Unrug, became Polonized and was accepted into the Polish nobility.
After 1630, the successive descendants of the Unrug family - Jerzy, were the heirs of Gorzyń, then his widow - Elżbieta, and finally their son - Aleksander (1637-68). As a result of unknown transactions, the village then became the property of the Międzychód line of this family and the staroste of Bogusław von Unrug (1661-1725). In this way, Gorzyń was owned by the Unrug family until the mid-18th century.
In the mid-18th century, the property was taken over by the von Brause-Brudzewski family, and in the years 1797-1804 - the von Sydow family. In 1804, the Gorzyń estate was purchased from the von Sydow family by August Anton von Harlem, who was a high Prussian official in Greater Poland. During the times of his son - Anton Hans Heinrich Benignus, who inherited the Gorzyn estate, the von Halem family received the title of baron from the king of Prussia, a changed coat of crest and the surname "von Harlem-Gorzyn". After the death of Anton, who left no heirs, the town passed into the hands of his sister's descendants - the German noble family of von Willich. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the owner of Gorzyń was Curt Willich - the starost of the Międzychód County. At that time, the park by the palace changed significantly and became more beautiful, and Gorzyń was repeatedly called "Greater Poland Switzerland". After his death in 1903, his wife Gertruda, known for her charity and helping Poles in the difficult times of World War II, took over the management of the property, which at that time amounted to approximately 932 hectares. It was she who supported, among others a hospital in Międzychód and operated in a women's union.
The last owner of the village was Siegismund von Willich (in the years 1852-1945), who died in January 1945 in the ranks of the Volkswagen Volksturm.
For many years the village passed into the hands of different owners. After World War II, Gorzyń was incredibly lucky - the most important place for Gorzyń and its inhabitants - that is, once a manor house and a farm providing work, from 1946 gained a new host. Initially, it became part of the experimental facility of the University of Poznań, and from 1952 the emerging Agricultural Academy. It is these buildings and this institution that have formed the structure of the village over the years. Today, the Gorzyn estate is owned by the Poznań University of Life Sciences, where together with the farms in Gorzycko and Muchocin, it is 1,500 hectares in total, where experiments in the field of plant production, animal breeding and fishing are conducted. The palace is the headquarters of the Agricultural Experimental Station.
Based on: the Occasional Publishing House from Mr. Jacek Kaczmarek on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Gorzyń
Gorzyń 2015