The story of this place
Begun in 1274 on the Nogat river, Malbork (Marienburg) became the vast headquarters of the Teutonic Order, the crusading monk-knights who carved a state out of the Baltic. When the Grand Master moved his seat here in 1309, it grew into the largest brick castle on earth — three nested castles of red brick spread across 21 hectares, ringed by moats and walls. The Knights ruled from its refectories and the soaring chapter house until the Poles broke their power at Grunwald in 1410 and finally bought the castle in 1457. Badly damaged in 1945, it was painstakingly restored and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.