Built in 1908 as the weathercock on the roof testifies, the one-time grand residence of the Jewish industrialist Chaim Frenkel spent time as a Jewish grammar school from 1920 until 1940 before being commandeered by the Nazis as officers’ quarters and finally falling into the hands of the Soviets who used it as a military hospital. Now under the control of the city’s Aušros Museum and undergoing much needed renovation work, of the three halls and four galleries open to the pubic just one small space is sadly given over to the Frenkels and the history of the substantial Jewish contribution to the city. Other rooms celebrate all manner of Lithuanian life from former Lithuanian royalty to Japanese and Chinese art to a recreation of life in the city during the interwar period. Ongoing reconstruction outside is slowly breathing life back into the palace’s former gardens including a magnificent fountain found at the back of the building.

Admission 6/3Lt.