Castle of the Teutonic Order, Malbork, Poland

The best guarded part of the Malbork stronghold was the High Castle. Surrounded by two lines of walls and a moat, it was connected to the Middle Castle by a drawbridge. The High Castle was closed during the day. It was home to about 50 Teutonic brothers. The castle’s central point was a courtyard surrounded by cloisters with a well in the middle. The ground floor of the castle contained a kitchen, utility rooms and a cell for the most important prisoners. The first floor housed the monks’ rooms, the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the chapter house and the treasury. The convent chamber was located even higher. Grain supplies were hidden in the attics, which were supposed to last two years of a potential siege. A 66-meter watchtower, which was also the church’s bell tower, towered over everything.

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Castle of the Teutonic Order, Malbork, Poland

In addition to the Great Refectory, the Middle Castle also contained the Grand Master’s Palace, the Grand Commander’s chambers, the Armoury, rooms for visitors and an infirmary.

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Castle of the Teutonic Order, Malbork, Poland

The most representative place of the entire complex was the Great Refectory, a huge hall located in the western wing of the Middle Castle. It was in this hall that the Teutonic Knights organized feasts and banquets. The hall, measuring 30m x 15m, was the largest room of its kind in the whole of Central Europe. It could accommodate 400 people. Its magnificent, palm vault is still supported by three slender pillars to this day. The interior design of the room was complemented by windows with colorful stained glass and frescoes, headed by the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the patron saint of the Teutonic Order, located above the main entrance.

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Castle of the Teutonic Order, Malbork, Poland

In what areas is the castle in Malbork record-breaking?

1) The largest brick castle in the world - a fortress so fortified that it was never conquered militarily, the inhabitants could survive 3 years without any supplies, and the monastery part was accessed by 4 bridges thrown over the water.

2) The largest kitchen hood in the world - the most exquisite food of the Middle Ages came out of the kitchen, this was confirmed by important heads of Europe at that time, it was also tasted by King Casimir the Great.

3) The largest sculpture of medieval Europe - the Malbork Madonna is over 8 meters high, it was recreated by modern conservators, covered with a mosaic containing real gold. It can be seen on the castle walls of the chapel, from under the ticket office building. Interestingly, the glass cubes were brought from Venice, and the gold elements from Gdańsk.

4) The largest number of latrines in a stronghold in the Middle Ages - even cooks had their own toilet, and cabbage leaves were often used as toilet paper, which also had medicinal properties, e.g. anti-inflammatory.

5) The largest number of wells in a castle in the Middle Ages. Interestingly, the fortress also had access to running water.

6) The oldest underfloor heating in these lands - large stones in the basement were heated in fireplaces and acted as storage furnaces. The heat escaped into the rooms through special holes in the floors.

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Castle of the Teutonic Order, Malbork, Poland

Malbork Castle is full of legends and mysteries. One of the most famous is the story of Maria of Brzozowa, who was supposedly bricked up alive in one of the castle’s chambers. According to another legend, there was supposed to be a place under the castle that conceals the treasures of the Teutonic Order. Of course, there is no confirmation that these stories are true, but they are what make Malbork an even more mysterious and intriguing place.

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Castle of the Teutonic Order, Malbork, Poland

The building has an impressive volume of 250 thousand cubic meters, 30 million bricks were used to complete the entire complex, of which 4.5 million are in the high castle. This makes it the largest brick structure in the world.

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Castle of the Teutonic Order, Malbork, Poland

The Teutonic Knights, along with the Knights of St. John and the Knights Templar, are one of the three largest orders to emerge from the crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries. The beginning of the Malbork Castle was built between 1275 and 1300. Initially, at the end of the 12th century, the seat of the Teutonic Order was located in Acre, then from 1209 in Montfort, and finally it was moved to Malbork in 1309.

From the beginning, the order wanted to conquer Pomerania and unite with Brandenburg, initially buying lands, and finally moving to open military operations against Poland.

The lost Battle of Grunwald began the decline of the Teutonic Order, crowned by defeat in the Thirteen Years’ War. From 1457 to 1772 Malbork Castle became one of the residences of Polish Kings.

From 1772, the castle was taken over by the Prussians and its regular devastation began. Gothic vaults and windows were demolished, cloisters were bricked up, new windows were forged, and the Palace of the Grand Masters was transformed into a cotton mill.

In 1816, a major reconstruction of the castle began to restore its historical value. Not everything was rebuilt in accordance with the original, replacing the original materials with more modern ones.

From 1933, the Nazi flag was hung on the Malbork Castle. This place was used for ceremonies.

In 1945, after the battles for the city with the Red Army, during which the castle was turned into a point of resistance, about 70% of the buildings of the High Castle, the Middle Castle, the Tower and the castle church were completely destroyed.

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Hohenstein Castle, Olsztynek, Poland

Erected between 1350 and 1366 near the border of the Ostróda commandry with Masovia, at the behest of Günther von Hohenstein.

In 1410, after the Battle of Grunwald, fought just a few kilometers from Olsztynek, the castle was seized by the townspeople and handed over to Władysław II Jagiełło. After being reclaimed by the Teutonic Knights, it was damaged during the Polish–Teutonic War of 1414 and the Thirteen Years’ War.

During the last war between the Order and Poland, in December 1519, Olsztynek was taken by the troops of Crown Hetman Mikołaj Firlej, who, after the garrison of 200 soldiers surrendered, began an occupation of the castle lasting over a year. After the secularization of the Teutonic Order in 1525, the town was incorporated into Ducal Prussia, and the castle became the administrative seat of the princely starost.

In 1651 and 1685, the castle buildings were damaged by fires. By the late 18th century, after renovations, they were converted into offices for the Prussian commissariat, and part of the medieval structures was demolished. Between 1847 and 1849, the remnants were remodeled in a Neo-Gothic style and converted into a gymnasium. After being damaged during World War II, the rebuilt fragments of the castle were incorporated into a school building.

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Castle of the Mazovian Dukes, Ciechanów, Poland (part 2 of 2)

The castle’s greatest period of splendor was the reign of Duke Janusz I, son of Siemowit, who, after the defeat of the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald in 1410, rebuilt Ciechanow Castle as his residence, erecting an imposing residential building, raising the level of the courtyard by 1.5 meters and laying decorative cobblestones.

During the reign of the next dukes, the castle was an important point of administration of the Duchy of Ciechanow, a place of international negotiations and a fortress where the ducal treasury was kept. The castle was rebuilt and adapted to the use of firearms. The main entrance was moved to the west gate, which was fortified with a brick fore-gate and drawbridge.

After the death of Janusz II in 1495, the castle began to decline, and after the incorporation of Mazovia into the Crown in 1526, it completely lost its importance and slowly fell into disrepair under the royal starosts.

In the middle of the 17th century, during the “Swedish Deluge,” the castle was seized by the Swedes and burned, as was Ciechanow. From then on it was a ruin, located outside the city, in vast swampy meadows.

After the Second Partition, in 1803, the Prussians, who ruled much of Mazovia, demolished the buildings inside the castle, building a brewery in Opinogóra out of the bricks they obtained. They left the outer walls, which they were unable to breach.

In the 1960s, the process of rebuilding the castle began, and it eventually became a museum facility, in the nature of a “permanent ruin,” with a small museum exhibition on the towers and in the reconstructed castle cellar of the so-called “Gothic Hall.”

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Castle of the Mazovian Dukes, Ciechanów, Poland (part 1 of 2)

When the construction of the Ciechanów castle began, and it was around 1355, Mazovia, which was a separate duchy, was ruled by Prince Siemowit III from the line of the Mazovian Piasts. In other areas of Poland, the process of unification was coming to an end, after the so-called district breakdown. It was ruled by the last hereditary king, Casimir the Great, also from the Piast line, who "found Poland made of wood and left it made of stone". Polish lands were invaded by armies from neighboring countries, especially the Teutonic Knights (the Knights' Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary) from the north, Czechs from the south and Lithuanians from the east.

The form of the castle - a rectangle measuring 48 x 57 m - with one building at the southern gate (for the crew), two towers from the entrance side and a huge, empty courtyard resembled early medieval Middle Eastern castles - Byzantine castles. It had a similar purpose - it was used to shelter the city's population, along with the most valuable possessions, when threatened by the enemy. The only way to the castle, from the city side, through the swampy backwaters of the Łydynia River, was a wooden bridge, almost 300 m long, easy to dismantle.

The Ciechanów castle was practically impregnable and was never occupied by enemies, although such attempts were made by the Teutonic Knights, as evidenced by two swords and other fragments of the knights' armament found in the castle moat during archaeological research. The castle then (at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries) served as a defensive border castle, as the border of the Teutonic State ran along the river, just behind the northern wall of the castle.

#ciechanow #zamek #castle #mazowieckie #mazowsze #mazovia #polska #poland #architektura #architecture #gothic #gotyk #gothicarchitecture #architekturagotycka #widok #krajobraz #landscape #ruiny #ruins #history #historia #krzyzacy #teutonicknights

Castle of the Mazovian Dukes, Ciechanów, Poland (part 1 of 2)

When the construction of the Ciechanów castle began, and it was around 1355, Mazovia, which was a separate duchy, was ruled by Prince Siemowit III from the line of the Mazovian Piasts. In other areas of Poland, the process of unification was coming to an end, after the so-called district breakdown. It was ruled by the last hereditary king, Casimir the Great, also from the Piast line, who "found Poland made of wood and left it made of stone". Polish lands were invaded by armies from neighboring countries, especially the Teutonic Knights (the Knights' Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary) from the north, Czechs from the south and Lithuanians from the east.

The form of the castle - a rectangle measuring 48 x 57 m - with one building at the southern gate (for the crew), two towers from the entrance side and a huge, empty courtyard resembled early medieval Middle Eastern castles - Byzantine castles. It had a similar purpose - it was used to shelter the city's population, along with the most valuable possessions, when threatened by the enemy. The only way to the castle, from the city side, through the swampy backwaters of the Łydynia River, was a wooden bridge, almost 300 m long, easy to dismantle.

The Ciechanów castle was practically impregnable and was never occupied by enemies, although such attempts were made by the Teutonic Knights, as evidenced by two swords and other fragments of the knights' armament found in the castle moat during archaeological research. The castle then (at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries) served as a defensive border castle, as the border of the Teutonic State ran along the river, just behind the northern wall of the castle.

#ciechanow #zamek #castle #mazowieckie #mazowsze #mazovia #polska #poland #architektura #architecture #gothic #gotyk #gothicarchitecture #architekturagotycka #widok #krajobraz #landscape #ruiny #ruins #history #historia #krzyzacy #teutonicknights