he first monastic watchtower was built in this area shortly after the lands were handed over to the Teutonic Knights. It was in 1276, and the first komtur was Dietrich von Spira. The watchtower was built in 1283, but not on the site of the current castle. The exact location is unknown, it can be associated with the nearby hillfort "Dybowo".
In 1290, work began on building a castle and an urban center associated with it. Of course, the best-suited place in the area was chosen for this. The highest hill is a promontory jutting out towards the Vistula, which has difficult-to-access steep slopes from the south and east. From the north and west, the defense of the natural ravines was reinforced with the walls of the castle ward, and then they were transformed into moats.
Construction, which began
The remains of the bergfried in the eastern corner of the castle, photo by ZeroJeden, VII 2011
in 1290, continued in stages for the next several decades. By the end of the 13th century, the six-meter walls of the castle proper were erected, and in three corners there were turrets protruding slightly in front of the face of the wall. In the north-eastern corner, a massive kełp was built, quadrangular at the base and octagonal above. Residential and utility wings were built by the southern and northern walls. The original entrance to the castle, later bricked up, was located in the southern one.
The next stage of construction took place at the beginning of the 14th century. The walls and corner towers were raised, and two more wings were added to the remaining sections of the perimeter wall, and the entire courtyard was surrounded by cloisters. Shortly afterwards, the walls were given their final height and defensive porches appeared at their top.
The subsequent changes should be treated as a separate construction project. Namely, after 1422, the former Grand Master Michael Küchmeister's residence was arranged here. In order to adapt the castle
The remains of the bergfried in the eastern corner of the castle, photo by ZeroJeden, VII 2011
to his needs, the previous entrance to the castle was bricked up, and a new one was made in the eastern wing. After this operation, the clearly visible portal of the former gate remained in the elevation of the southern wing. The former guard room enlarged the chapel, and the layout of the eastern wing was also significantly modified.
The castle's functional layout did not differ from other Teutonic complexes. Utility rooms were located in the basements and on the ground floor. The lustration from 1565 lists the following rooms on the ground floor: a pantry, kitchen, bakery, prison (probably in the basement).
The upper floor was intended for apartments and representative rooms. In the northern wing, until 1422, there was the komtur apartment and a dormitories, and then the entire floor was designated for the apartment of Michał Küchmeister. In the southern wing, as already mentioned, there was a chapel. There was also a chapter house. The refectory partly occupied the southern and western wings. The upper floors were again occupied by utility rooms - mainly grain stores, perhaps also an armoury.
This was the final form of the castle: a square four-winged structure, all wings of which had the same height but a different number of storeys. The entire external elevation of the castle was decorated with zendrówka bricks in rhombus and herringbone patterns. What was unique in Teutonic castles, the Gniew building was located in the centre of the castle's outer bailey, on the top of a hill.
The quadrangle of buildings was surrounded by a moat, the edges of which were brick walls. A wide parcham,
View from the south-west, photo by ZeroJeden, VII 2005
or inter-wall, was left between the moat and the castle. At the corners of the inner retaining wall of the moat there were turrets - three with a square plan and one round. The latter probably served as a dansker, as it was connected to the castle by a porch.
The castle proper also includes the so-called Hunter's Castle. Originally, it was a building for guards at the gate and drawbridge opened in 1422. Its current form comes from the times of Jan Sobieski.
From the beginning, the castle had a fairly extensive bailey, but its layout is known only from the lustration from 1565, which mentions renovation work being carried out. From this document, we know that stables, a barn, a coach house, a house for servants and servants, a wheelwright's apartment and a bathhouse were built along the walls. At the foot of the hill there was a granary and a castle mill.
Gniew was the first Teutonic outpost on the left bank of the Vistula, which is why much attention was paid to the military significance of the castle. Inspections from the years 1386-1446 show a
Plan of the castle in Barciany according to Conrad Steinbrecht
significant increase in the military potential. Of course, this was accompanied by the city's economic growth. During the Battle of Grunwald, there was a temporary collapse, then it repeated itself during the Polish-Hussite invasion. The castle could have been put to the test by force for the first time in 1410, but the crew probably surrendered it to the Poles in the absence of the komtur Zygmunt von Ramungen, who died at Grunwald. Like most Polish conquests, the castle quickly returned to the Teutonic Order's hands. Gniew was one of the first cities to join the Prussian Confederation. The first The castle was besieged in February 1454. The knights, with the help of the townspeople and peasants of Gniew, after a week of struggle caused a fire to break out, then the castle crew fled, and the castle was destroyed and plundered. The Gdańsk authorities, implementing a plan to secure and ensure freedom of trade, demanded the complete destruction of the castle, but this did not happen. Already in September 1454, the castle had to pass into the hands of the Teutonic Knights again, and the retreating townspeople set fire to the outer bailey.
In 1463, Polish troops under the command of Hetman Piotr Dunin besieged the castle again. The action proved effective, after a six-month siege, the Teutonic crew surrendered, handing over the castle and the
photo by ZeroJeden, VII 2011
city to the Poles. The castle was then transformed into the residence of the starosts, of whom it is worth mentioning Jan Sobieski.
Despite changing its function to residential, the castle did not lose its military significance. In the 16th century, renovation works were undertaken on the walls of the fore-castle and fore-gate, as evidenced by the lustration from 1565. The care for the defence did not go hand in hand with the general care for the main buildings of the fortress. Most of the unused rooms slowly fell into ruin. During the wars with the Swedes, the destruction deepened. Several sieges did not remain without an impact on the castle walls. In 1626, the Swedes entered the castle, the Poles managed to recapture it during the second attempt at a siege after 10 days of attacks. In 1655, the castle again briefly fell into Swedish hands, and after it was retaken by the Polish army, Swedish prisoners were held in its dungeons for a long time. It is said that in an attempt to escape, they broke through to the neighbouring cellar, where they got drunk on wine. The escape was of course unsuccessful, but they were not punished, explaining that they drank to the hetman's health. The castle suffered particularly during the second Polish-Swedish war, the inspector wrote in 1664: "there is no resemblance to what stood before". This was the case at the castle grounds, the main castle was in slightly better condition, the ground floor was fully developed, and there was a chapel on the first floor. At that time, the buildings began to be threatened by the Vistula River, which was eroding the castle hill. When Gniew came
Remains of the original entrance gate in the southern wing, photo by ZeroJeden, VII 2005
under Prussian rule, the occupier designated it for military purposes. Minor changes were made, but they did not significantly affect the Gothic design. However, in 1774, the decision was changed and grain warehouses were placed here. Unfortunately, this involved the need to make serious changes to the existing interiors. Many walls and ceilings were demolished, the elevations were plastered and a new entrance was made, this time in the western wing. In 1855, the main tower was lowered and the outer bailey walls were partially demolished, but already in the years 1856-1859 the first attempt was made to reconstruct the Gothic castle. However, not enough attention was paid to faithfully reproducing the buildings. Instead of the main tower, the same one as in the other corners was erected in its place, new window openings were carved in the elevations, but the change in the interior layout also resulted in a different window layout. Other changes that should be mentioned include the liquidation of the dansker and the reconstruction of the outer bailey walls. The castle thus rebuilt housed a prison. After Poland regained independence, the castle housed the starosty offices, and shortly afterwards it was designated for military purposes. In 1921, a fire caused significant damage, and for a long time only one surviving southern wing functioned. During World War II, a school for Nazi youth was located here. After the war, the building was taken over by a military unit. It was not until 1969 that the gradual reconstruction of the ruined walls began. The last conservation work was carried out in 1993.
Currently, the castle
photo by ZeroJeden, VII 2011
can be visited, and there is a hotel, restaurant, café and club on the castle grounds. The caretakers of the facility are active, often organizing cultural events, the most popular of which are the knight tournaments famous throughout Poland.
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e first monastic watchtower was built in this area shortly after the lands were handed over to the Teutonic Knights. It was in 1276, and the first komtur was Dietrich von Spira. The watchtower was built in 1283, but not on the site of the current castle. The exact location is unknown, it can be associated with the nearby hillfort "Dybowo".
