Malbork Teutonic Castle - Marienburg - History - according to Jim Presenkowski
Below is Jim's report from his trips to Malbork
Malbork castle (click inside the photograph to see it magnified).
Marlbork is an impressive structure built by the Teutonic Knights. The walls are very thick. I'm not sure but it seem they are about 4-5 feet
thick. The Teutonic Knights were defeated at Tannenberg in 1410 which led to the advancement of the Crusaders.
Malbork - going down - thick walls (click inside the photograph to see it magnified).
The castle is huge, one must remember that it was rebuilt after WWII,
and covers much ground. There exist yet some walls from the first building
of the structure. Take a tour guide with you and he will show you which
walls. One of my pictures with a stained glass window is near the original
wall to the right of the window. In fact to go to the tower of the castle
you must have the guide with you. Then as you can see from some of the
pictures that we are at the top of the tower.
Old castle part - not reconstructed (click inside the photograph to see it magnified).
There are many things to see in the castle from the old armour worn by the winged hussars to the spears and swords they used in those times.
Also many cannons and the balls are throughout the structure (see the photographs of cannons
in the article Teutonic Knights History).
Malbork thick walls with small windows - openings for defense (click inside the photograph to see it magnified).
There are statues that represent the knights of the time in the courtyard.
In my earlier visits to the castle you could still see holes in the walls
from WWII. I don't remember seeing them in 2004. I will have to check
the walls the next time I am there. St. Anns chapel is available for view
as well (see the photographs of St. Ann chapel in the next article). Each
time I have gone to the castle different parts of it are open to the public
and different parts are closed. So each visit is unique. In fact in 2004
was the first time I saw the large wooden toilet. I am sitting in it in
one picture. the paintings on the walls and ceiling are very unique and
beautiful. The narrow passageways tells me there were not to many overweight
knights. You can see my cousin in one of them and he is thin.
Old Knight Outhouse (click inside the photograph to see it magnified).
One thing that always sticks in my mind is the enormity of the castle.
The stones and timber used to construct it are just huge and I am sure
were a great feat in the original building of the structure. On all
my trips to Poland I stop there to see what is new for viewing. It is
always moving to walk were knights have walked and to see how they lived.
The large cooking area is enormous. In my mind it is truely one of the
great castles of Europe/Poland. I will continue to visit it as I make
my trips to Poland. In fact it is on the way to Elblag where my relatives
live so I always stop there. I still have not visited a part of the
original structure that stands near the large building. It can be seen
from the tower in my pictures. It is just walls but it is quite old.
Check the Malbork
Castle website.
Photograph of the Malbork castle after World War
II (click inside the photograph to see it magnified).
Photographs and text by Jim Presenkowski
Read the first part about Teutonic Order in Poland - Introduction and the next part Teutonic Knights in Poland - History. There will be more articles about Malbork coming!
Check Prussian Homage by Matejko - jigsaw puzzle and
Polish Legends - Lady of Dzialdowo - Teutonic Castle . Check also all articles devoted to Travel to Poland, check also links to external sites devoted to
travel and hotel sites.
I recommend Eyewitness Travel Guide to Poland (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by Teresa Czerniewics-Umer, Malgorzata Omilanowska, Jerzy S. Majewski, DK Travel Writers
This comprehensive book about Poland, showed below, may also be useful for you:
The Rough Guide to Poland by Mark Salter, Jonathan Bousfield
The SITE MAP contains all articles classified according to the topic.
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