Largest Brick Castle

Malbork Castle is the largest medieval castle in Europe. It was built between the XIII and XIV centuries to serve as the home of the Grand Master of the Knights of the Teutonic Order.




The construction of Castle in Malbork began in 1275. Malbork has been since 1309 the capital of The Teutonic Order Of Holy Mary in Jerusalem. Malbork was taken by the Polish army in 1475 and became one of the residences of Kings of Poland until 1772, when it was taken by the Kingdom of Prussia, to be devastated in the years after.

At the beginning of XIX century, after protests of the German society the castle’s demolition has been stopped in 1803 and since 1817 until ca.1940, the Malbork castle has been constantly reconstructed, under the guidance of several important German architects, with the best work done by the team of the historian Konrad Steibrecht in the years 1882-1921.

During the Nazi era, a scene of the official ceremonies of the Hitler’s regime. In 1945, at the end of the WWII, the castle was defended by the Germans against advancing Red Army and during these fights seriously damaged. Additionally, its newly constructed roof burnt in 1959. In the years after, the serious reconstruction work continued to restore the Malbork castle to its previous glory.



One of many castles build in northern Poland by the Teutonic Order of Holy Mary in Jerusalem, a knight’s order limited to the German aristocracy, which was sent there in 1225 by the Pope to convert the local pagan population into Christianity. Today the Theutonic Order capital Malbork (Marienburg) is certainly one of the biggest gothic castles remaining in the world.