Castles

Tapiau Castle

Dzerzhinsky street, 12
Tapiau Castle
Tapiau Castle
Tapiau Castle
Tapiau Castle
Tapiau Castle
Tapiau Castle is one of the few heritage sites of the Teutonic Knights, well preserved in the Kaliningrad region. The castle was built by the knights of the German Order in 1265 on the Pregel riverside instead of the Prussian fortress Zugurbi (Sugurbi). It served to guard the border and defend the approaches to Königsberg. But the location of the castle turned out to be unsuccessful and in 1280 it was moved to a lowland near the Deima River.
The name Tapiau, and originally "Tapiov" in translation from the Prussian language means something warm. Perhaps, it appeared because of fogs often rose in the vast floodplain of the two rivers Deima and Pregel, and warm evaporation enveloped the lowland.

From 1280 to 1301 the castle was the center of the commandery. In the 40s of the XIV century, the Teutons began to reconstruct the castle and built a stone two-story building with four outbuildings and a forburg, which surrounded a horseshoe-shaped ditch and an earthen rampart. The castle was intended for representatives of the European nobility who wanted to prove themselves in the wars of the Order with pagan Lithuania. During the reconstruction, the interiors were decorated with stone carvings, some details have survived to this day. A settlement was formed on the opposite bank of the Deima River, which later became the city of Tapiau (now the city of Gvardeysk).

Many celebrities visited the castle throughout its history. During the war with Lithuania in 1390-92 King of England Henry IV, Henry Bolingbroke, stayed here. Dietrich von Kuba, Bishop of Samland, starved to death in the castle cellars. He dared to speak harshly about the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Heinrich von Richtenberg and was punished. And the first Duke of Prussia, Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach, in the middle of the 16th century, wished to make the castle his country residence. He died there in 1568. It is said that during the reign of Albrecht, Tapiau was also visited by the great Polish and German astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, who came there to treat the commandant of the castle. In May 1697, the Great Embassy of Peter I stayed in the fortress. However, the future Russian emperor himself did not stayed here on that visit.

The Castle prison
In 1786, the castle in Tapiau was transferred to an orphanage - an institution for the decrepit, wretched, sick and orphans. Many of them came to the shelter against their will, but according to the strict laws of the state against begging, theft and drunkenness. Since the 19th century the premises of the castle began to turn into prison cells and ancillary production, requiring administrative service.
By the way, the red-brick administrative building of the vault, installed at the beginning of the 20th century in pseudo-Gothic style, call the real “castle” by mistake.
After the capture of Tapiau by the Red Army in 1945, the castle practically ceased to exist and immediately became a pre-trial detention center for war criminals. Since 1945, a filtration point for Nazi criminals, a colony for committed offenses identified in teenagers, a women's prison, a repatriation point for returning from captivity of German generals and officers, and a juvenile colony have been consistently held here. Since 1960, a men's penal colony has been located here, which has changed several types of regime in half a century.

The Tapiau Castle becomes a museum
Nowadays we have preserved in a slightly rebuilt form, the northwestern wing and the basement of the eastern wing have been found. The most impressive are the lancet vaults in the exits of the commander and in the refectory, as well as the bas-reliefs depicting animals, birds, a minnesinger and girls in a wreath, which are characteristic of Western European knightly culture, decorating them.
The northwestern wing of Tapiau Castle, dedicated to the middle of the 14th century, is open to the public only with a guide. 

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Schedule Daily 10:00 - 18:30

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