Malbork Castle | |
---|---|
Zamek w Malborku (Polish) | |
Location | Malbork, Poland |
Coordinates | 54°02′23″N19°01′40″E / 54.03972°N 19.02778°E |
Built | 13th century |
Official name | Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork |
Type | Cultural |
Criteria | ii, iii, iv |
Designated | 1997 (21st session) |
Reference no. | 847 |
Region | Poland |
Designated | 1994-09-08 |
Reference no. | M.P. z 1994 r. Nr 50, poz. 420 [1] |
The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, [2] commonly known as Malbork Castle (Polish : Zamek w Malborku; German : Ordensburg Marienburg), is a brick gothic castle complex located in the town of Malbork, Poland, built in 13th and significantly expanded in 14th century. It is the largest castle in the world measured by land area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [3]
It was constructed by the Teutonic Order, a German Catholic religious order of crusaders, in the form of an Ordensburg fortress and named Marienburg in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. In 1457, during the Thirteen Years' War, the castle was sold by Bohemian mercenaries to King Casimir IV of Poland in lieu of indemnities. It then served as one of several Polish royal residences and the seat of Polish offices and institutions, interrupted by several years of Swedish occupation, fulfilling this function until the First Partition of Poland in 1772. From then on, the castle was under German rule for over 170 years until 1945, albeit largely falling into disrepair as military technological advances rendered the castle a mere historical point of interest.
The construction period is a point of debate, but most historians generally accept the 132 years between 1274 and 1406 as the construction time. The castle is a classic example of a medieval fortress and, upon its completion in 1406, was the world's largest brick castle. [4]
UNESCO designated the "Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork" and the Malbork Castle Museum a World Heritage Site in December 1997. [5] It is one of two World Heritage Sites in the region (north-central Poland), together with the "Medieval Town of Toruń", which was founded in 1231. Malbork Castle is also one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments ( Pomnik historii ), as designated on 8 September 1994. [1] Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland.
The castle was built by the Teutonic Order after the conquest of Old Prussia. Its main purpose was to strengthen their own control of the area following the Order's 1274 suppression of the Great Prussian Uprising of the Baltic tribes. No contemporary documents survive relating to its construction, so instead the castle's phases have been worked out through the study of architecture and the Order's administrative records and later histories. The work lasted until around 1300, under the auspices of Commander Heinrich von Wilnowe. [6] The castle is located on the southeastern bank of the river Nogat. It was named Marienburg after Mary, patron saint of the religious Order.[ citation needed ] The Order had been created in Acre (present-day Israel). When this last stronghold of the Crusades fell to Muslim Arabs, the Order moved its headquarters to Venice before arriving in Prussia.
Malbork became more important in the aftermath of the Teutonic Knights' conquest of Gdańsk (Danzig) and Eastern Pomerania in 1308. The Order's administrative centre was moved to Marienburg from Elbing (now Elbląg). The Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, who arrived in Marienburg from Venice, undertook the next phase of the fortress' construction. [6] In 1309, in the wake of the papal persecution of the Knights Templar and the Teutonic takeover of Danzig, Feuchtwangen relocated his headquarters to the Prussian part of the Order's monastic state. He chose the site of Marienburg conveniently located on the Nogat in the Vistula Delta. As with most cities of the time, the new centre was dependent on water for transportation.
The castle was expanded several times to house the growing number of Knights. Soon, it became the largest fortified Gothic building in Europe, [7] on a nearly 21-hectare (52-acre) site. The castle has several subdivisions and numerous layers of defensive walls. It consists of three separate castles –the High, Middle and Lower Castles, separated by multiple dry moats and towers. [8] The castle once housed approximately 3,000 "brothers in arms". The outermost castle walls enclose 21 ha (52 acres), four times the enclosed area of Windsor Castle. The developed part of the property designated as a World Heritage Site is 18.038 ha (44.57 acres). [9]
The favourable position of the castle on the river Nogat allowed easy access by barges and trading ships arriving from the Vistula and the Baltic Sea. During their governance, the Teutonic Knights collected river tolls from passing ships, as did other castles along the rivers. They controlled a monopoly on the trade of amber. When the city became a member of the Hanseatic League, many Hanseatic meetings were held there. [10]
In 1361, the future Grand Duke of Lithuania Kęstutis was briefly imprisoned in the castle. [11] In 1365, Polish King Casimir III the Great visited the castle.
In the summer of 1410, the castle was besieged following the Order's defeat by the armies of Władysław II Jagiełło and Vytautas the Great (Witold) at the Battle of Grunwald. Heinrich von Plauen successfully led the defence in the Siege of Marienburg (1410), during which the city outside was razed. [12]
In 1456, during the Thirteen Years' War, the Order – facing opposition from its cities for raising taxes to pay ransoms for expenses associated with its wars against Kingdom of Poland – could no longer manage financially. Meanwhile, Polish General Stibor de Poniec of Ostoja [13] raised funds from Danzig for a new campaign against them. Learning that the Order's Bohemian mercenaries had not been paid, Stibor convinced them to leave. He reimbursed them with money raised in Danzig. [14] Following the departure of the mercenaries, King Casimir IV Jagiellon entered the castle in triumph in 1457, and in May, granted Danzig several privileges in gratitude for the town's assistance and involvement in the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66) as well as for the funds collected for the mercenaries that left. [15]
The mayor of the town around the castle, Bartholomäus Blume, resisted the Polish forces for three more years, but the Poles captured and sentenced him to death in 1460. [16] A monument to Blume was erected in 1864. [17]
In 1466 both castle and town became part of the Polish Malbork Voivodeship in the province of Royal Prussia. Since 1457 it served as one of the several Polish royal residences, fulfilling this function for over 300 years until the First Partition of Poland in 1772. During this period the Tall Castle served as the castle's supply storehouse, while the Great Refectory was a place for balls, feasts, and other royal events. [5] Polish Kings often stayed in the castle, especially when travelling to the nearby city of Gdańsk/Danzig. Local Polish officials resided in the castle. [11] From 1568 the castle housed the Polish Admiralty (Komisja Morska) and in 1584 one of the Polish Royal Mints was established here. Also, the largest arsenal of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was located in the castle. [11] By the decision of King John II Casimir Vasa of 1652, Jesuits took care of the castle chapels of Mary and St. Anne.
During the Thirty Years' War, in 1626 and 1629 Swedish forces occupied the castle. They invaded and occupied it again from 1656 to 1660 during the Deluge. [18] Then the castle was visited by Swedish kings Gustav Adolf (in 1626) and Charles X Gustav (in 1656). [11]
After Prussia and the Russian Empire made the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and in 1773 it became part of the newly established province of West Prussia. At that time, the king's officers used the rather neglected castle as a barracks for the Prussian Army and also as a poorhouse. The last Jesuits left the castle in 1780. In 1794 David Gilly, a Prussian architect and head of the Royal Office of Works, made a structural survey of the castle, to recommend on its future use or demolition. [19] Gilly's son, Friedrich Gilly, produced several engravings of the castle and its architecture, which he exhibited in Berlin. These were published by Friedrich Frick between 1799 and 1803 and led the Prussian public to "rediscover" the castle and the history of the Teutonic Knights. [20]
Johann Dominicus Fiorillo published another edition of the engravings on 12 February 1803, also wanting to encourage public interest. [21] Max von Schenkendorf was critical of the defacing of the castle. Throughout the Napoleonic Wars, the Prussian army used the castle as a hospital and arsenal. [22] Napoleon visited the castle in 1807 and 1812. [11] After the War of the Sixth Coalition, the castle became a symbol of Prussian history and national consciousness. In 1816, Theodor von Schön, governor of West Prussia, began the restoration of the castle. [23] In 1910, the Naval Academy Mürwik in Flensburg was built, and the Marienburg was used as a model for this new Red Castle. [24] The restoration of the Marienburg was undertaken in stages until the beginning of the Second World War. [21]
With the rise of Adolf Hitler to power in the early 1930s, the Nazis used the castle as a destination for annual pilgrimages of both the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. The Teutonic Castle at Marienburg served as a blueprint for the Order Castles of the Third Reich built under Hitler's reign. [25] In 1945 during fighting in the area, more than half the castle was destroyed. [26]
In memory of the town's residents voting in favor of remaining part of Germany, after the First World War, a monument of a knight on a tall column was erected in front of the castle. The town was transferred to Poland in 1945, and most of its inhabitants fled or were expelled. In the course of Polonization, the column was cut in half. The upper part remains at the original location and now carries a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, while the rest of the column can be found supporting a Saint Christopher statue in a monastery garden near St. John's church. [27]
A severe fire in 1959 caused further damage to the castle. [28]
In 1961 the Castle Museum ( Muzeum Zamkowe ) was founded, [18] and in 1965 an amber exhibition was opened. [11]
In a restoration ongoing since 1962, most of the castle has been reconstructed. [28]
A significant 21st-century restoration is of the castle's principal church, which is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This had been restored just before the Second World War and then largely destroyed in the fighting of 1945. It remained in a state of disrepair until a new restoration was completed in April 2016. [29]
Malbork Castle remains the largest brick complex in Europe. [30]
The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed on 21 February 1440 at Kwidzyn by a group of 53 nobles and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia, to oppose the arbitrariness of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union established in 1397 by the nobles of Chełmno Land.
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society c. 1190 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having historically served as a crusading military order for supporting Catholic rule in the Holy Land and the Northern Crusades during the Middle Ages, as well as supplying military protection for Catholics in Eastern Europe.
The Peace of Thorn or Toruń of 1466, also known as the Second Peace of Thorn or Toruń, was a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on 19 October 1466 between the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon and the Teutonic Knights, which ended the Thirteen Years' War, the longest of the Polish–Teutonic Wars.
Royal Prussia or Polish Prussia became a province of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, which was annexed following the imposed Second Peace of Toruń (1466) from territory in Pomerelia and western Prussia which had been part of the State of the Teutonic Order. Royal Prussia retained its autonomy, governing itself and maintaining its own laws, customs, rights and German language for the German minority and Polish language for the Polish majority.
Malbork is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has a population of 37,898 people as of 2021. The town is located on the Nogat river, in the historical region of Pomerelia.
Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, that ranges from the Vistula delta in the west to the end of the Curonian Spit in the east and extends inland as far as Masuria, divided between Poland, Russia and Lithuania. This region is often also referred to as Old Prussia.
The Province of West Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth annexed in the First Partition of Poland. West Prussia was dissolved in 1829 and merged with East Prussia to form the Province of Prussia, but was re-established in 1878 when the merger was reversed and became part of the German Empire. From 1918, West Prussia was a province of the Free State of Prussia within Weimar Germany, losing most of its territory to the Second Polish Republic and the Free City of Danzig in the Treaty of Versailles. West Prussia was dissolved in 1920, and its remaining western territory was merged with Posen to form Posen-West Prussia, and its eastern territory merged with East Prussia as the Region of West Prussia district.
The State of the Teutonic Order was a theocratic state located along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Europe. It was formed by the knights of the Teutonic Order during the early 13th century Northern Crusades in the region of Prussia. In 1237, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword merged with the Teutonic Order of Prussia and became known as its branch – the Livonian Order. At its greatest territorial extent during the early 15th century, the State encompassed Chełmno Land, Courland, Gotland, Livonia, Estonia, Neumark, Pomerelia, Prussia and Samogitia.
The Malbork Voivodeship, after Partitions of Poland also referred to as the Malbork Land, was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Kingdom of Poland from 1454/1466 until the Partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. Its capital was at Malbork.
The Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, also known as the Great Teutonic War, occurred between 1409 and 1411 between the Teutonic Knights and the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war began with a Teutonic invasion of Poland in August 1409. As neither side was ready for a full-scale war, Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia brokered a nine-month truce.
Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg was the 28th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1414 to 1422.
Hans von Baysen or Jan Bażyński was a Prussian knight and statesman, leader of the Prussian Confederation and the first Polish governor of Royal Prussia.
Polish–Teutonic Wars refer to a series of conflicts that took place between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order, a medieval German military order with roots in the Baltic region. These wars occurred primarily during the 14th and 15th centuries and were characterized by territorial disputes, political maneuvering, and religious differences.
This is the 1454-1466 Polish-Teutonic War. For a list of all Polish-German Wars, see Polish-German Wars.
Conrad Letzkau was a councilman and later Mayor of Danzig who, together with Arnold Hecht, was assassinated by the Teutonic Knights.
The siege of Malbork took place between September 28, 1457 and August 5, 1460, during the Thirteen Years' War. The Teutonic Knights tried to regain the fortress (Ordensburg) of Malbork, which had been the capital of their state, but was captured by the Kingdom of Poland in June 1457. The Knights, commanded by Bernard Szumborski, failed to do so, and Malbork remained in Polish hands, becoming the seat of Malbork Voivodeship.
Siege of Marienburg occurred during the Thirteen Years' War between the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Poland. Marienburg was the capital of the state of the Teutonic Order, in particular, the residence of the Grand Master of the order. An alliance of Prussians and Poles besieged the city beginning 27 February 1454 with mercenaries from Danzig, and the necessary artillery.
Zantyr is a lost Teutonic Order castle with established commandry and town with cathedral, seat of the bishopric. In the early 13th century it was located at present day Pomeranian Voivodeship, in Sztum County, in the municipality of Sztum, south of the village Uśnice or in the region Biała Góra at the confluence of the rivers Nogat and Vistula. Here, at the southern end of the Vistula delta region, resides the Nogat River Protected Landscape Area. During its brief history Zantyr was contested between Swietopelk II, Duke of Pomerania, State of the Teutonic Order and Bishopric of Pomesania. At the end around year 1280 the castle and town were reestablished at a new location and became known as Malbork Castle.
Malbork treaty was signed on 9 October 1454, in the fortress of Marienburg (Malbork). It was between the authorities of the Teutonic Order, represented by the Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen, and the commanders (rittmasters) of the mercenary troops fighting on behalf of the Order in the Thirteen Years' War, represented by Bernard von Zinnenberg. In exchange for obtaining a guarantee with the right to sell the most important Prussian strongholds still under the Order's control for unpaid military compensation, the mercenaries agreed to continue military operations on behalf of the Order until 19 February 1455, despite not receiving the agreed payment. This enabled the Teutonic Order to repel the Polish offensive on Malbork in January 1455, recapture Königsberg (Kaliningrad) along with Lower Prussia and Samland from the Prussian Confederation, and regain control of several fortresses from them.
The Battle for Kneiphof was the culmination of the struggle for control over the port district of Kaliningrad, Kneiphof, lasting from April 13 to July 14, 1455, during the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), ending with a decisive victory for the Teutonic Order.
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