Touching antiquity is one of the types of tourism popular around the world. Travelers are ready to fly half the world to look at the ancient castles of France, England, Scotland and Germany. Many of these structures are over 800 years old, and some still have descendants of the great knights.
Waldau Castle, once built by two Prussian princes who received land from the Teutonic Order as a present, still impresses with its age and size.
Castles of the Teutonic Order
The Teutonic Order takes its beginning in Palestine during the next crusade in 1198, when two orders were organized - the Swordsmen and the Knights of the Black Cross of the Virgin Mary. Their unity occurred in 1237. Its representatives had to depend on the grace of the owners of the land. For example, they were expelled from Hungary in 1225, and already through the city of wanderings they received an invitation from the Polish prince Konrad, who entrusted them with part of their lands for 20 years so that they would bring the pagan at that time Prussia to Christianity.
Thus began the conquest of the Prussian and Baltic peoples. The power of the order grew, as did the number of lands conquered by it. To gain a foothold in the new territories, the Teutons began to build castles at a distance of 20 km from each other. It was such a march-throw that the foot soldiers in full ammunition could make in 1 day.
Such defensive fortresses were built on almost all of Prussian land, one of the last being the Waldau castle, built near the border with Lithuania. It happened in 1264.
Castle history
It so happened that the construction of a new fortress was entrusted to two Prussian nobles who had betrayed their people and paganism. They adopted Christianity and entered the order. Because they remained faithful to him during the years of testing, the Grand Master allocated them land along with the serfs who lived on it, for eternal use for the construction of the castle. Brulant and Diabel, as the Prussian princes called, initially laid the intermediate fortress not far from the inn, gradually strengthening its walls and erecting towers.
The construction served as a haven for travelers, merchants, knights and brothers of the order. On occasion, residents of nearby villages could take refuge in the fortress. Waldau Castle lost its strategic importance by 1457, when the Lithuanian border was estranged, and it was first rebuilt.
After the alteration of the inner chambers and rooms, the building became the residence of the Grand Master, in which he lived in the summer. After the reforms carried out in 1525, the castle was occupied by the administration of Waldowski parish.
Castle after 1500
The initial appearance of the fortress varies significantly from what a traveler can see today. You can judge this by visiting the Waldau Castle Museum (Kaliningrad), where a model of an ancient citadel is exhibited.
Previously, there was a large square courtyard surrounded by thick powerful walls with towers protruding from them. The buildings included in the complex were divided into rooms, which housed household services and living rooms for noble people.
Along the south wall were a stable, warehouses with weapons and supplies, rooms for servants and a kitchen. Later, a brewery and a bakery were organized there. The northern part of the castle served as its only entrance. Since it was built on an island in the middle of an artificial lake, it was possible to get into it only by a drawbridge through a powerful gate. The northern building housed a guardhouse and a prison.
After rebuilding in 1525, the old walls of the fortress and tower were dismantled one after another, and the main building was gradually turned into a castle, which became the summer residence of the order, and after its dissolution passed into the possession of the ducal domain.
In 1697, Peter the Great visited the Waldau Castle as part of the Russian Embassy, as evidenced by the annals of the time and a memorial cross. In the 18th century, the former fortress was leased by the Government of Prussia, and the Agricultural Academy was located there, which, in turn, was reorganized into a seminary in 1870, where teachers were trained for public schools.
Waldau after World War II
Today, Waldau Castle (Kaliningrad), a photo of which can be found in all tourist booklets of the city, looks the same as during the time of Peter 1. Due to the fact that various educational institutions have been located in it for the past 150 years, it is well preserved, but not so much other fortresses of the Teutonic Order.
He tolerated both the First and Second World War well, and from 1945 until 2007, an agricultural school was located here, the left wing of which was given over to the hostel.
Castle today
In 2014, the 750th anniversary of the building was solemnly celebrated, thanks to which Waldau Castle was re-transformed. Its territory was cleared, the park put in order, and two three-story outbuildings found new owners. In one is the Russian Patriarchal Church, and in the other is the Waldau Castle Museum, reviews of which are most enthusiastic.
Today the castle is awarded the title of a cultural heritage monument at the regional level. He was included in the program of tours in Kaliningrad and the region.
Castle museum
Waldau Castle offers its guests expositions located in four rooms on the top floor of an ancient building. The first presents exhibits lovingly made by the museum director and his students from wood - these are figures representing peasants and soldiers of that era.
In the second room, household items and decorations of the Prussian people from pagan times to the subjugation of the Templars are exhibited.
The third room is history, military armor and weapons of the Knights Templar since the construction of the fortress.
Most of the exposition is archaeological finds carried out on the territory of the castle. On the walls are portraits of several generations of owners of the fortress, starting with its founders. Here you can see 2 models of the fortress - its original appearance and the view after conversion to a castle.
The fourth room is devoted to a visit to the castle by Peter the Great, the period of Napoleonic, the First and Second World Wars. A special pride of the museum are objects belonging to the German poet Maximilian von Schenkendorf, who lived here in 1805.
In the Kaliningrad region there are 2 dozen Teutonic fortresses, however, most of them are picturesque ruins. To some extent, this is an occasion to visit the preserved Waldau castle. How to get there? Very simple - just take a minibus number 110 Kaliningrad - Ushakovo, which runs every hour from 6 in the morning until 21.00. Stop in the village of Nizovye, from where it is easy to walk to the facility under consideration.