Malbork Castle

Malbork Castle is one of the biggest Gothic castles in the world. In 1997 it was added to the list of UNESCO. This defence fortress is composed of 3 parts: low castle, medium castle and high castle. From year 1309 till 1457 the castle was the main residence of the grand master of Teutonic Order and the city capital of the Teutonic Knights.

Malbork Castle is located in the northern part of Poland, precisely on the right bank of Nogat river (tributary of Wisła). The surrounding terrain is flat, which helped in fast development of trade. Prussians charged for exchange of goods and were monopolists in trade of amber.

The construction started in year 1278. The most important materials were brick and tiles. Only in 2 years they used more than 4480000 pieces. It is vital to remark that the Malbork Castle is the biggest castle in the world built from brick. At the beginning it contained only the main castle (later called High Castle) and the smaller part in the front called Medium Castle.

In years 1309 - 1457 the castle was a residence of Teutonic Knights who decided to extend it. The part of castle located from the side of Nogat, which plays a role of defence tower is considered as a biggest achievement in gothic architecture.

In Summer of 1410 (after the battle of Grunwald) was besieged by polish-lithuanian army in command of polish king Władysław Jagiełło. This moment was the beginning of the fall of the Teutonic Order.

In 1467 the castle was sold to polish king Kazimierz Jagiellończyk for the amount of 190 thousand florins. However the fortress was not conquered during the Thirteen Years' War, it become deserted due to the economic problems of citizens. They were caused by high taxes established by the Kingdom of Poland. Since that moment till 1772 the castle was one of the residences of polish kings.

17th July of 1626 the Swedish army attacked the castle under command of Gustav II Adolf. Despite the enormous supremacy of the aggressor: 300 defenders against 7500 attackers, the castle was successfully defended till 19th July. In that day the defenders grounded the arms and were allowed to leave the castle alive (in recognition of their heroic deed).

The Swedish build 11 bastions and extended the line of a defence. They successfully repulsed attacks of Stanisław Koniecpolski and in 1636 abandoned the castle, which was once again recovered by Poles. The castle was renovated and rearmed again by Gerard Denhoff due to orders of king Władysław IV. In year 1644 there was a fire which burned roofs of the High Castle and the cloister.

In year 1772 the castle was taken over by Prussians and two years later the reconstruction started. The High Castle was converted into barracks in years 1801-1804. That change had a negative impact. The Prussian realised that they had made a mistake and started to rebuild the castle in a slightly fantasy-romantic style. Since 1882 till the death in 1992, the fortress was reconstructed by Konrad Steinbrecht, who converted it into a Gothic style.

The late thirties of XX age the castle was a residence of Nazis. In 1945 it was severely damaged during the fights with Red Army. The eastern part of the High and Middle Castle, the main tower and the church were completely destroyed.

Recently (since 1945) the castle was governed by the Polish Army, which created there the Museum of Polish Army. Next, in year 1952 the power was held over to the local authorities. In the castle each year take place staging of its' defence after the Battle of Grunwald and voice-light shows.