Baron Otto Gustav von Wächter became the Governor of the Kraków district during the German occupation. The construction of the palace began in 1941, but its initiator did not live there for too long. He was sent to Lviv, and the building stood abandoned for some time. In November 1943, the palace was gifted to Heinrich Himmler by Hans Frank as a sanatorium for SS men. The design of the Przegorzały Palace is based on Romantic Rhine castles. It is a tall, three-storey building, built into a limestone hill, which is crowned by a high roof with dormers.

By the end of the war the palace housed a hospital. Later on, it was the seat of the Forest Research Institute, and in the 1970s it was taken over by the Institute for Studies on the Polish Diaspora of Jagiellonian University.  For more than 30 years the castle housed a restaurant, and until recently there was also a hotel with a spa resort.

It is worth adding that its terraces offer an outstanding view of the Vistula, the south-western part of Kraków and – if weather permits – one can even see the Tatra Mountains.