Castle in Puck

lready in the early Middle Ages, at the mouth of the Płutnica River into the Baltic Sea, there was a well-developed port settlement of international importance, near which the dukes of Gdańsk founded a castellany around the 12th century. Archaeological research, however, has shown that it was not located in the place of the later castle.

After Pomerania was conquered by the Teutonic Knights, they created the office of the Rybic around 1310. It is not entirely certain where its seat was initially located, because the castle was built later. In 1348, the town of Puck was located no longer at the mouth of the Płutnica River, but slightly to the south, in a higher area, less exposed to rising sea level.

There is no exact information about the date of the castle's construction, 

Aerial view from the south, photo by ZeroJeden, V 2013

but the time limits of the construction works can be determined with some accuracy on the basis of historical information. In the inspections from the third quarter of the fourteenth century, it can be seen that before 1389 a significant amount of building material was stored in the Puck brickyard, a similar amount remained until 1407 despite intensive work. This would mean that significant construction works were carried out in Puck from the last decade of the fourteenth century, probably the castle, town walls and the parish church were expanded. The castle was certainly built at the beginning of the fifteenth century, because coins used in the years 1400-1420 were found in the building layer during archaeological research.

The Teutonic seat of Rybicki probably consisted of two brick buildings. The tenement house, later called the Old House, stood at the western slope and had dimensions of 22.5 by 10.5 meters and four floors - basements, two residential floors and an attic. From the eastern wall of the tenement house protruded an avant-corps housing 

The project of the expansion of the town's fortifications from around 1640 according to J.Wieczorkiewicz [Source]

a staircase. It is possible that the attic also served defensive functions, which, however, was not taken into account in J.P. Gajewski's reconstruction. The foundations and ground floor of the tenement house were made of stone, and above it was built of brick.

The second building was a defensive and residential tower in the north-eastern corner of the castle area, mentioned several times in documents. It is possible that it was built much earlier than the tenement house, it is also likely that it could have been built on the site of the earlier castellan residence. It is not known whether the castle was initially surrounded by a brick defensive perimeter, certainly the wall led from the tenement house to the south, connecting further with the town wall. In addition to these two buildings, the castle complex included farm buildings in the courtyard and the castle farm, mill, sawmill and brickyard located west of the tenement house.

During the Thirteen Years' War the castle was quickly captured by the army of the Prussian Union, but it was damaged in the process. Half a year later, in June 1454, Kazimierz Jagiellończyk pledged Puck to the mayor of Gdańsk, and in 1456 it was ceded to the city of Gdańsk. In mid-1456, the Puck castle was bought by the Swedish king Charles Knudson Bonde, who was exiled from his homeland, who lived in the castle tower, probably due to significant damage to the tenement house.

In 1460, Puck was taken over by the Teutonic Knights, and in 1462, after a six-month siege 

Plan of Puck from 1750 with marked castle buildings

and blockade of supplies by the Gdańsk inhabitants, the Teutonic garrison capitulated. After the Second Peace of Toruń Kazimierz Jagiellończyk created the starostwo in Puck, which existed until 1491, and then the castle was pledged to the inhabitants of Gdańsk.

In 1517, during the reign of Sigismund the Old, a unit of royal privateers was created in Puck - sea guards fighting, among others, the transport of weapons to Russia. In 1520, the castle and the town were probably plundered by mercenary Teutonic troops heading to Brandenburg.

Another Polish king, Sigismund Augustus, due to the growing monopoly of Gdańsk in the maritime economy, planned to weaken it by expanding Puck. However, the raids of the Swedish army to weaken the Polish coast significantly inhibited the king's actions. From 1565 comes the inspection, according to which the then starost Jan Kostka lived in a wooden manor house with a brick tower, so probably the Teutonic tenement house has not been rebuilt since the mid-fifteenth century. Significant damage to the fortifications is also mentioned.

In 1568, the expansion and 

Plan of Puck from 1634 according to Frederick Getkant [Source]

strengthening of the castle began. Probably then a gatehouse was erected in the south-west corner and a turret between the old tenement house and the new gatehouse. Further works took place after 1618, when Jan Wejher erected an arsenal with a granary on the upper floor at the south-western section of the castle wall.

During the First Polish-Swedish War, the town and the castle occupied by the Swedes were besieged by Polish troops. Probably during these fights in 1626-1627 the oldest part of the castle - the tower - was destroyed. From this period comes the town plan made by the fortifier Frederick Getkant, on which the buildings of the castle are precisely marked. A full picture of the castle can be obtained by confronting the plan of Getkant with the inspection from 1628. According to it, the castle was separated from the town by a wooden and brick wall, from the sea side there was an embankment with artillery positions to protect the port, along this rampart in the courtyard stood a new tenement house.

In the twenties of the 16th century, it was planned to fortify the 

The northern fragment of the remains, photo by ZeroJeden, VI 2011

castle and the town with bastions, this idea was raised at the election sejm in 1632, when Władysław IV Vasa was obliged to strengthen the entire region.

Financial difficulties did not allow for the completion of this project (led by Frederick Getkant), and the abandoned new seaside forts could not resist the attack of the Swedish army in 1655. Puck itself was rearmed in time, and several times the Swedish sieges could not cope with the defending crew. This tenacious defense had an impact on the appreciation of the importance of Puck after the Swedish Deluge - the castle was kept in full combat readiness for a long time. Unfortunately, in 1703, the castle crew was no longer sufficient to maintain the fortress in the next war with the Swedes, who easily captured Puck.

After the invader withdrew, the castle lost its importance, in 1772, despite significant damage, the last starost of Puck, Jan Przebendowski, received the commissioners of the Prussian king. After the First Partition of Polish, the Prussian authorities handed over the castle area to the 

Aerial view from the south-west, photo by ZeroJeden, V 2013

Evangelical community. In 1795, part of the area became private property. In 1825, regular demolition works began, which were completed in 1844. At that time, an Evangelical church was erected in the area of the former castle courtyard.

Currently, even this church, demolished in the mid-twentieth century, no longer exists. In 1977, the first archaeological works were carried out under the supervision of Prof. Tadeusz Grabarczyk from the University of Łódź, and in the last decade of the twentieth century, large-scale work was carried out by Martyna Milewska, MA, and Prof. Jerzy Kruppe. During the latter research, the remaining castle walls of the cellars and ground floor were completely exposed, but after the end of the research, they were filled in again. Only the western part of the castle area on which the old tenement house stood, the remaining areas were completely leveled due to various works carried out for almost two centuries. Currently, only single stones protrude from the ground.