Malbork Castle

Malbork, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, Zamek  w Malborku  - the castle of the Teutonic Order of the German Catholic religious order of crusaders called by them Marienburg in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus and patron saint of the order. Construction of the castle; and its gradual expansion; began after the year 1274, after crushing of the Great Prussian Uprising of the tribes of Balts and lasted, roughly, until year 1418. At first, the castle served as a seat of the commander then, in 1309 became the capital of the Teutonic Order. During the Thirteen Years War (1454-1466) between Kingdom of Poland and monastic state of the Teutonic Order castle fell in Polish hands (actually was bought from the hands of the Czech mercenaries), in the year 1457, and served since then as a residence of Polish kings till the First Partition of Poland in year 1772 after which castle has fell under administration of the German Kingdom of Prussia. First decades of Prussian rule over the castle were marked with the utter devastation of the object. Castle served as a barracks for Prussian garrison, fabric manufacture and housing for workers. In years 1801-1804 castle was rebuilt and adapted for army warehouses. Vast sections of its curtain walls were demolished. Devastation of the castle was put to a halt after the protests of the locals. In 1807 Marienburg served as a French military hospital. Reconstruction of the castle started in 1817 and lasted until 1939. During WWII, following the advance of the Red Army, castle was turned into resistance point that was captured by Soviet forces in March of 1945. Due to the heavy fights the destruction of the castle reached 50-60%. In August of 1945 castle was handed over to the Polish Army that turned it into Polish Army Museum. Five years later ruins of the castle were handed over to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage which, due to the vast damage of the castle, at first planned its demolition but finally they changed their plans and slow reconstruction of the castle has begun, and in 1961 Castle Museum in Malbork was opened.