Königsberg Castle
Königsberg Castle, in German Königsberger Schloss, was the principal seat of the Grand Marshal of the Teutonic Order, the administrative centre of the Order’s vast eastern Komturei of Samland, and — after the secularisation of 1525 — the constitutional seat of the Dukes and Kings of Prussia. The castle was founded in 1255, in the course of the Prussian Crusade, on a low hill on the right bank of the Pregel near its mouth on the Frisches Haff, and was named in honour of King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who had participated in the campaign. The castle was destroyed in the heavy bombing of August 1944, and the destruction was one of the most significant architectural losses of the second world war.
The Foundation and the Early History
The castle was founded in the autumn of 1255, in the course of the systematic reduction of Prussian strongholds following the Order’s acquisition of Samland. The site was a low hill on the right bank of the Pregel, and was, in the early accounts, described as the castrum Koningsberg. The site was, before the Order’s acquisition, a small Prussian fortress, and the place in which the local Sambian tribe had maintained its principal stronghold. The early castle was 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, with a substantial chapel block, refectory block, chapter house, and dormitory block.
The Castle as Seat of the Grand Marshal
The castle of Königsberg was, from its foundation, the principal seat of the Grand Marshal, the second of the five great officers of the Prussian branch. The Grand Marshal was, in constitutional terms, the officer of the Order responsible for the military administration of the Prussian state, and the castle was the principal seat of that administration. The Grand Marshal’s lodging was a substantial residential block, on the west side of the cloister garth, and was, in the early fifteenth century, the principal seat of the Order’s military administration.
The castle was, in addition, the principal seat of the Komtur of Samland, and the Komturei of Samland was, by the standards of the Order’s Prussian territories, exceptionally large. The castle was, in the early fourteenth century, the largest single fortress in the Order’s Prussian territories outside Marienburg, and the principal stronghold of the Order’s eastern frontier.
The Castle in the History of the Order
The castle was, in the course of the Order’s wars with the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, one of the principal fortresses of the Prussian state, and was besieged on several occasions in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The castle was, in 1410, the principal seat of the Grand Marshal at the time of the disastrous Battle of Grunwald, and was, in the wars that followed, one of the principal strongholds of the Order’s eastern possessions. The castle was, in 1457, the seat of the Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen, who had taken refuge there after the loss of Marienburg, and the castle was, for a brief period, the principal seat of the Order’s Prussian state. The castle was, in 1525, the place in which Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach formally secularised the Order’s Prussian territories and assumed the title of Duke of Prussia.
The secularisation of 1525 transformed the constitutional position of the castle. The castle was the principal seat of the Dukes of Prussia, and the place in which the dukes maintained their court, their chancery, and their treasury. The castle was, in 1618, the place in which the Electors of Brandenburg took up their residence in their eastern territories. The castle was, in 1701, the place in which Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg assumed the title of King Frederick I in Prussia, and was, in the eighteenth century, the principal seat of the new Prussian monarchy.
The Eighteenth-Century Reconstruction
The castle was, in the early eighteenth century, the subject of a substantial reconstruction under King Frederick I. The campaign was conducted in several phases, with the principal work of the 1700s and 1710s under the architects Johann Arnold Nering, Andreas Schlüter, and Eosander von Göthe. The reconstruction was, a transformation rather than a restoration, and the result was a baroque palace of considerable architectural pretension. The chapel was, in the early eighteenth century, one of the most impressive baroque interiors in northern Europe.
The Destruction of 1944
The castle of Königsberg was, in the night of 26 to 27 August 1944, the target of one of the most concentrated air raids of the second world war, conducted by the British Royal Air Force. The raid destroyed, in the course of a single night, the greater part of the historic centre of Königsberg, including the cathedral, the old town hall, and the greater part of the castle. The destruction of the castle was, in architectural terms, one of the most significant losses of the second world war. The ruins were, in 1967, largely demolished by the Soviet authorities, and the site is, in the modern city of Kaliningrad, occupied by the House of the Soviets.
The Heritage of Königsberg Castle
The heritage of the castle of Königsberg has, in the years since 1944, been the subject of a substantial debate. The site is, in the modern city of Kaliningrad, occupied by the House of the Soviets, and the debate over the future of the site is, a debate over the future of the Order’s architectural legacy in the eastern Baltic. The architectural history of the castle is treated in the parent article on the major castles of the Teutonic Order, and the modern heritage of the Order’s buildings is treated in the chapter on the heritage of the castles today.
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 wider context of the castle’s role in the Order’s architectural patronage is examined in the parent article on the major castles of the Teutonic Order, and the architectural type of which the castle is a principal example is treated in the article on the convent castles of the Teutonic Order. The principal seat of the Grand Master is examined in the article on the castle of Marienburg, and the architectural style in which the castle was built is treated in the article on brick Gothic architecture. The wider political context of the Order’s Prussian state is examined in the chapter on the Prussian state.