Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by tomasz przechlewski

Insights into the history
Gniew Castle was founded in the 2nd half of the 13th century and served as the seat of the Teutonic Knights. In the 15th century castle took possession of the royal family. Later, however, the fortress fell to Prussians, who established the military barracks and armory at the Gniew castle. In the first half of the 20th century the building was damaged by a large fire. About 50 years later, began an extensive reconstruction, and the whole place got back to its original form.

Attractions
Today the castle houses an archaeological museum, where you can see many exhibitions of medieval excavations and archaeological findings. The castle also hosts festivals of various historic characters and many exhibitions. In the vicinity of Gniew Castle you can find another great castle, Malbork Castle, which is the largest Gothic building in the world and the largest brick building in the world.

Practical information
You can visit Gniew Castle almost every day (except of Mondays) from 9:00 to 17:00. Admission is 8 PLN. The museum is open from 15 April to 31 October. You can even accommodate right in the castle complex or try some of the great polish traditional meals in the castle’s restaurant. Very impressive is night walking around the castle.

For further details visit official website of Gniew Castle.

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Malbork Castle by DerHexer

Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork is the former seat of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. The castle complex consists of three parts – Bottom castle, Middle castle and Upper castle. Teutonic Knights started to build the castle in 1274. About 2 years later the settlement that arose here during the castle construction  obtained city rights.

Between 1309-1457, the Malbork Castle was the seat of Grand Master. During the thirteen-year war (1454 – 1466) – known also as the War of the Cities, the castle was bought by the Casimir IV Jagiellon (Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and King of Poland from 1447 – until his death). Since then until 1772 the castle became one of the residences of Polish kings. Later on, during the wars with Sweden, Napoleonic wars and Poland splitting, the castle was damaged.

Reconstruction works began in 1817 and were completed in 1923. After that, during the World War II, the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork was occupied by the Nazis and during the fighting with the Red Army the half of the castle was destroyed.

After the war, the reconstructions started again, but have not been finished yet. Since 1997, the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork and its museum are included in UNESCO World Heritage List.

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