Major Castles of the Teutonic Order
The Teutonic Order’s territorial state in Prussia was, by the standards of the early fourteenth century, a substantial principality, and the Order’s principal castles were among the most impressive buildings in northern Europe. The Order’s great castles were not, generally royal castles in the conventional sense; they were the seats of the great officers of the Order, and the architectural expression of the Order’s territorial administration. Each of the great castles had a specific constitutional role, a specific place in the Order’s administrative system, and a specific architectural character. The most impressive of them — the great complex of Marienburg — was the principal seat of the Grand Master, and was, in the early fifteenth century, the largest brick building in Europe.
Marienburg: The Principal Seat of the Grand Master
The castle of Marienburg, on the right bank of the Nogat in the territory of the later Pomerellen, is the architectural climax of the Teutonic Order and one of the most impressive medieval castles in Europe. The site was acquired by the Order in 1274, in the course of the suppression of the great Prussian uprising, and the first conventual buildings were erected on the high ground above the river in the 1280s. The site was elevated to the rank of the Order’s principal seat in 1309, when Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen transferred the headquarters of the Grand Master from Venice to Prussia, and the subsequent development of the site was the principal architectural undertaking of the Order for the next century and a half.
The Marienburg complex is conventionally divided into three concentric enclosures. The High Castle (Hochschloss) was the seat of the Grand Master and the liturgical centre of the convent, and contains the chapel, the chapter house, the Grand Master’s palace, and the great hall. The High Castle was built in several campaigns, with the principal work of the 1280s and 1290s under Master Wilhelm von Homburg and the substantial reconstruction of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries under Grand Masters Konrad von Jungingen and Heinrich von Plauen. The Middle Castle (Mittelschloss) was the administrative centre of the Order, and contains the great refectory, the Komtur’s lodging, the chancery, the treasury, and the guest house. The Middle Castle was built in the early fourteenth century, in the course of the great building campaign of Grand Master Werner von Orseln. The Fore-Castle (Vorburg) was the working courtyard of the convent, and contains the arsenal, the stables, the smithy, the mills, and the craftsmen’s workshops. The Fore-Castle was built in several campaigns, with the principal work of the late fourteenth century under Grand Masters Konrad von Jungingen and Konrad von Wallenrode.
The architectural history of Marienburg is examined in detail in the article on the construction of Marienburg in the chapter on the golden age of the Prussian state. The architectural character of the complex is treated in the article on brick Gothic architecture. The modern restoration of the complex and its present use as a museum are treated in the article on the Marienburg Museum.
Königsberg: The Seat of the Grand Marshal
The castle of Königsberg, on the right bank of the Pregel at the head of the Frisches Haff, was founded by the Order in 1255, in the course of the Prussian Crusade, and was named in honour of King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who had participated in the campaign. The castle was, from its foundation, the principal seat of the Grand Marshal, the fourth of the five great officers of the Prussian branch, and was the administrative centre of the Order’s vast eastern Komturei of Samland. The Königsberg Komturei was, by the standards of the Order’s Prussian territories, exceptionally large, and the castle was, in architectural terms, one of the most ambitious of the Order’s buildings outside Marienburg.
The castle of Königsberg was built in several campaigns, with the principal work of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries under Masters of the Livonian and Prussian branches. The conventual buildings were arranged around a large cloister garth, with a substantial chapel block on the north side, a refectory block on the south side, and a chapter house and dormitory block on the east side. The castle was, in the early fifteenth century, the seat of a substantial convent, with a garrison of several hundred men. The castle was rebuilt in the late nineteenth century under the German empire, and was destroyed in the heavy bombing of 1944 and the subsequent reconstruction of the modern city of Kaliningrad. The architectural history of the castle is examined in the article on Königsberg Castle.
The castle of Königsberg was, in addition to its function as the seat of the Grand Marshal, the principal fortress of the Order’s eastern frontier. The castle was besieged on several occasions in the course of the Order’s wars with the Lithuanian grand duchy and the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, and was, after the secularisation of the Order in 1525, the principal seat of the Dukes of Prussia. The castle was, in the eighteenth century, the principal residence of the Prussian kings when they were in their eastern territories, and was substantially rebuilt in the eighteenth century under King Frederick I. The destruction of the castle in 1944 was one of the most significant losses of the architectural heritage of the Order’s Prussian state.
Lochstedt: The Principal Fortress of the Eastern Marches
The castle of Lochstedt, on the Frisches Haff some twenty kilometres east of Königsberg, was the principal fortress of the Order’s eastern marches. The site was acquired by the Order in the 1270s, in the course of the suppression of the great Prussian uprising, and was developed, in the course of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, into one of the most impressive fortifications in the Order’s Prussian state. The castle was designed as a frontier fortress against the Lithuanian grand duchy, and was placed under the command of a Komtur of senior rank. The castle was, in the early fourteenth century, one of the largest fortifications in the Order’s Prussian territories, and was the principal stronghold of the Order’s eastern frontier.
The castle of Lochstedt was, in architectural terms, a substantial brick fortress, with a rectangular plan, four corner towers, a substantial gatehouse, and a deep moat. The conventual buildings were arranged around a central cloister garth, and were, in the early fifteenth century, supplemented by a substantial outer enclosure that contained the garrison and the workshops. The castle was, in the early fifteenth century, one of the principal arsenals of the Order’s Prussian state, and was, in the wars of the late fifteenth century, the principal stronghold of the Order’s eastern frontier.
The castle of Lochstedt was besieged on several occasions in the course of the Order’s wars with Lithuania and Poland, and was, in the Thirteen Years’ War of 1454 to 1466, the principal stronghold of the Order’s eastern possessions. The castle was, in 1455, the place in which Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen took refuge after the disaster of the Battle of Grunwald and the subsequent loss of Marienburg, and was, for a brief period, the seat of the Grand Master. The castle was, in 1525, the place in which Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach secularised the Order’s Prussian territories, and was, in the early modern era, gradually reduced to ruins. The ruins of the castle are still standing in the modern Kaliningrad oblast, and have been the subject of a substantial conservation campaign in the early twenty-first century.
Danzig: The Principal Seat of the Pomerelian Administration
The castle of Danzig, on the left bank of the Vistula near its mouth, was founded by the Order in the 1270s, in the course of the consolidation of the Pomerelian territory, and was the principal seat of the Order’s Pomerelian administration. The castle was, from its foundation, one of the principal fortresses of the Order’s western territories, and was, in the early fourteenth century, the principal stronghold of the Order’s hold on the lower Vistula. The castle was, in architectural terms, a substantial brick fortress, with a rectangular plan, a substantial gatehouse, and a deep moat. The conventual buildings were arranged around a central cloister garth, and were, in the early fifteenth century, supplemented by a substantial outer enclosure that contained the garrison and the workshops.
The castle of Danzig was, in the early fifteenth century, the principal seat of the Order’s Pomerelian administration, and was the place in which the Komtur of Danzig and the officials of the Pomerelian Komturei discharged their duties. The castle was, in 1410, the principal fortress of the Order’s western territories, and was, in the wars of the late fifteenth century, one of the principal strongholds of the Order’s Pomerelian possessions. The castle was, in 1454, the place in which the Prussian Confederation was formed, and was, in the Thirteen Years’ War that followed, the principal seat of the confederates’ military operations against the Order.
The castle of Danzig was, after the secularisation of the Order in 1525, the principal seat of the Polish administration of Royal Prussia, and was, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, substantially rebuilt under the Polish and Prussian administrations. The castle was, in the eighteenth century, one of the principal residences of the Prussian kings when they were in their eastern territories, and was, in the early nineteenth century, the principal seat of the Prussian administration of West Prussia. The castle was destroyed in the heavy bombing of 1945, and the ruins of the castle were, in the 1950s and 1960s, largely demolished to make way for the post-war reconstruction of the city. The loss of the castle was, in architectural terms, one of the most significant of the second world war.
Elbing: The Seat of the Grand Hospitaller
The castle of Elbing, on the right bank of the Elbing river near its mouth on the Frisches Haff, was founded by the Order in 1237, in the course of the Prussian Crusade, and was the principal seat of the Grand Hospitaller, the third of the five great officers of the Prussian branch. The castle was, from its foundation, one of the principal seats of the Order’s Prussian administration, and was, in the early fourteenth century, the principal seat of the Order’s hospital system in Prussia. The castle was, in architectural terms, a substantial brick fortress, with a rectangular plan, a substantial gatehouse, and a deep moat. The conventual buildings were arranged around a central cloister garth, and were, in the early fifteenth century, supplemented by a substantial outer enclosure that contained the garrison and the workshops.
The castle of Elbing was, in the early fifteenth century, the principal seat of the Grand Hospitaller, and was the place in which the Order’s hospital system was administered. The castle was, in addition to its function as the seat of the Grand Hospitaller, the principal fortress of the Order’s hold on the lower Vistula, and was, in the wars of the late fifteenth century, one of the principal strongholds of the Order’s western possessions. The castle was, in 1454, the place in which the Prussian Confederation offered to submit to the protection of the Polish crown (the “Submission of Elbing” of 4 March 1454), and was, in the Thirteen Years’ War that followed, the principal seat of the confederates’ military operations against the Order. (The Confederation itself had been constituted at Kwidzyn in 1440; the act at Elbing in 1454 was the submission to Poland that precipitated the war.) The castle was, in 1466, ceded to Poland by the Second Peace of Thorn, and was, in the early modern era, gradually reduced to ruins.
The ruins of the castle of Elbing are still standing in the modern city of Elbląg, in the voivodeship of Warmia-Masuria, and have been the subject of a substantial conservation campaign in the early twenty-first century. The architectural history of the castle is, an illustration of the wider history of the Order’s Prussian state, and the loss of the castle in 1454 and the subsequent ceding of the territory to Poland in 1466 was one of the most significant events in the long decline of the Order’s Prussian state.
Sources
- Biskup, Marian, and Janusz Trupinda. Das Marienburger Konventsbuch 1399–1412. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 2003.
- Boockmann, Hartmut. Der Deutsche Orden: Zwölf Kapitel aus seiner Geschichte. Munich: Beck, 1981.
- Rohde, Hans. Macht und Pracht der Marienburg. Königstein: Langewiesche, 1952.
Related Reading
The architectural character of the Order’s great castles is examined in the parent article on the convent castles of the Teutonic Order, and the architectural style in which they were built is treated in the article on brick Gothic architecture. The construction of the principal seat of the Order is treated in the article on the construction of Marienburg, and the wider political context of the Order’s great building campaign is examined in the chapter on the golden age of the Prussian state. The destruction of the castles in the second world war and the subsequent restoration campaign are treated in the chapter on the heritage of the castles today.