History
The first information of the wood – earth Teutonic watchtower in the former Prussian settlement of Rast was recorded in 1329. The Order established it as part of a series of fortresses on the eastern border of the newly conquered territory of the Prussian Bart tribe. The strongholds were intended to protect the conquered area and serve as a base for further expansion eastward, as well as to organize settlement and administer the subordinate territory. The Kętrzyn watchtower was burned twice by Lithuanian raids led by princes Algirdas and Kęstutis, in 1344/1345 and 1347. Construction of a brick castle, known as Rastenburg, began after 1350, in a new site in a corner of the growing settlement, which received town privilege in 1357. A Teutonic pfleger’s office was established there, subordinate to the commandry in Balga. The castle had moderate defensive capabilities and was likely for this reason surrounded by an additional wall in the early 15th century.
In July 1410, upon hearing of the death of the Teutonic Grand Master and the Teutonic Knight’s defeat at the Battle of Grunwald, the townspeople, led by Mayor Johann Bardin and an unknown Jochard, likely a landowner obligated to knightly service, captured castle in Kętrzyn. However in October, following the unsuccessful siege of Malbork by Polish-Lithuanian forces, the castle in Kętrzyn once again fell into the hands of a Teutonic Order official, and the leaders of the revolt were beheaded. The castle was captured again in 1454, following the outbreak of the uprising and the Thirteen Years’ War. The rebellious burghers of Kętrzyn, led by craftsmen from the shoemakers’ guild, drowned Teutonic pfleger Wolfgang Sauer in a pond, likely stemming from his earlier conflicts with the town (the previous year, he had sentenced to death three peasants from the Kętrzyn area caught poaching). Subsequently, the castle was administered by the Prussian knight Otto Machwic, whose garrison played a significant role in organizing the military operations of the Polish and Prussian Confederation forces in the region of the Great Masurian Lakes and on the borders of the Great Forest. The Teutonic Order retook its seat with the help of mercenary troops in 1461, and from then until 1525, it remained in their hands.
Since 1525, Kętrzyn was within the boundaries of Duchy of Prussia, and the castle was intended for the local seat of the princely starosts. It involved the reconstruction and modernization of the medieval building. Among other things, in 1682, the upper floor of the northern part was demolished, together with decorative gables and all ranges were leveled. After a fire in 1797, the castle became the property of the town, which adapted it to the headquarters of the commander and later the headquarters of the tax office. At that time rectangular windows were pierced in the castle walls. In 1945, the castle burnt down and was rebuilt in the 1960s. Fortunately, it was not related to its pre-war appearance, but it underwent partial regothization, restoring the original height of the northern range.
Architecture
The castle bordered the fortified town to the west and partly to the north, protruding slightly eastward from it. On the south side flowed the Guber River, from which a mill canal ran, spilling out beneath the castle into a large pond. Another canal protected the castle on the eastern side, where it connected the mill pond with Upper Lake to the north. The castle itself was a small structure, distinctly smaller than other castles built by the Teutonic Knights. It had a towerless, three-winged structure, measuring 31.3 x 36.7 meters, built of bricks in a Flemish bond, on a stone plinth. If it had an outer bailey, it was located between the castle and the town, within the defensive walls.
The main building on a rectangular plan of 31.1 meters long and 13.1 meters wide, divided into three above-ground storeys, was built from the north. Above the economic ground floor with three chambers, there were are also three rooms: two representative and residential (the pfleger’s chamber, refectory), and a chapel to the east. Above there was a warehouse and defense storey, especially important as the castle did not have a tower. The ground floor windows were small, pointed, each set in a lancet panel. The windows of the first floor were larger, arranged alternately with blendes of identical, pointed shape. The northern range was also distinguished by gables equipped with blendes and pinnacles. The windows of the warehouse storey were closed by less representative segmental arches.
The remaining two wings of the castle (southern and eastern) were narrower and lower. It likely served utility and auxiliary functions. It may also have housed guest quarters (it is known that the Balga commander had his chamber in the castle). A small courtyard was surrounded by timber cloisters, and a defensive porch surrounded the castle’s entire perimeter. A small rectangular gatehouse was located in the western section of the wall, which was topped with a bay window after 1528. A wooden drawbridge likely did not lead to the gate, as it would have required a pit dug across the entire width of the zwinger.
The castle’s external fortifications consisted of the outer wall of the zwinger, reinforced on the eastern side by two quadrangular corner towers. A third corner tower, cylindrical in plan, may have been added in the 16th century. The castle was likely separated from the town by another wall, while on the southern side of the stronghold the aforementioned canal was dug, which, by damming the waters, created a mill pond connected to the moat. The castle’s watermill operated there.
Current state
The castle, which was rebuilt after war damages, has retained a block from the Middle Ages, which, unfortunately, do not harmonize with large, rectangular, modern windows. The round stair tower is also an entirely early modern addition. Currently, the castle houses the Town Library and the Regional Museum, and the knight’s brotherhood is located in the basement of the northern wing. The museum’s collections include collections of paintings, sculptures as well as antique furniture. In the tourist season, the castle is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9.00 to 18.00, out of season from 9.00 to 17.00.
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Atlas historyczny miast polskich, tom II Mazury, red. R.Czaja, R.Golba, zeszyt 4 Kętrzyn, Toruń 2019.
Garniec M., Garniec-Jackiewicz M., Zamki państwa krzyżackiego w dawnych Prusach, Olsztyn 2006.
Herrmann C., Mittelalterliche Architektur im Preussenland, Petersberg 2007.
Leksykon zamków w Polsce, red. L.Kajzer, Warszawa 2003.
Steinbrecht C., Die Ordensburgen der Hochmeisterzeit in Preussen, Berlin 1920.
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