Malbork Castle!

Malbork Castle a classic medieval fortress, it is the world’s largest brick castle and one of the most impressive of its kind in Europe -the place I've always wanted to visit as a kid! I was ever dreaming of the fairy tale stories of the medieval Teutonic knights as I played with my toy knights! Well tell you what it was no fairy tale for those being converted by the sword! The few paragraphs below plagiarized & "converted", succinctly outline the not so Holy history of the Malbork Castle and the Teutonic Order.

The history of Malbork begins in the Holy Land and by ‘Holy Land’ we mean Palestine, not the land of the Golden Arches. Allow me to introduce you to the fabled Teutonic Knights, a rowdy band of monks and stray knights from all over Europe with a lust for slayin’ and convertin’. After Palestine was lost to Islam, these zealots needed a new base of operations. But the Crusades were partly an excuse to get people like this out of Europe, so no one wanted them back! Finally, a Polish King offered them sanctuary in return for help against some pagan Lithuanians. The Knights were happy to help, but they were also happy to form their own state and control the amber trade. Also, they massacred the citizens of Gdansk in 1308, which they were supposed to be protecting. Whoops.
As one of the guides there said , they built towns, mills scholls etc. so it was not all bad.

Obviously, these actions didn’t exactly sit well with the future Polish Kings, one of which promptly allied himself with the Lithuanians who were being constantly raided by the Knights. In 1410, the massive battle of Grunwald saw the defeat of the Teutonic Knights, but the stumbling Polish King stalled out and was unable to rout them from Malbork, where they had been constructing and improving a massive castle since they first established themselves in the region over a hundred years prior. They called the castle Marienburg (St. Mary’s Stronghold) in case you hear that name, rather than Malbork.

The Teutonic Order continued to decline and in 1457 the mercenaries working for the Knights decided that it was a good idea to take the castle for themselves and sell it to the Polish King. Gotta get paid somehow, you know? The Teutonic Grand Master (not King) was a scrooge! So the castle went to the highest bidder. Anyway, the Polish monarchy kept Malbork in decent shape for the next few centuries. Royal persons would rest their weary feet in its awesome rooms and vaulted hallways while travelling to and from Gdansk, Wasaw and Krakow. Perhaps it was this leisurely attitude that led to the Partition of Poland in 1772, upon which the castle was controlled by the Prussian rulers.

Unfortunately, the Prussians turned the magnificent castle into a barracks and many of the out walls and towers were taken down, many windows were bricked up, and much of the splendor was lost. Of course this gradual decline and industrial transformation was preferred to the bombing, destruction, and looting done to the fortress by the Soviet army, and by the end of the Second World War, Malbork was basically a shadow of its former self.

Today, the castle has been renovated and reconstructed, as faithfully as was possible. In general, reconstruction work throughout Gdansk and its neighbors has been incredible and Malbork is no exception. In 1997, the castle became a World Heritage Site.

http://www.gdansk-life.com/poland/malbork-castle

And a great visit it was! Three and a bit hours to get around the three castles with a guide - included in the price. I suggest a whole day and a stay o/n within the Castle compound!

The museums website in English - http://www.zamek.malbork.pl/en/index.html

Looking inside to the courtyard of the (middle) castle.
The castle once housed approximately 3,000 "brothers in arms", and the outermost castle walls enclose 52 acres (210,000 m²), four times larger than the enclosed space of Windsor Castle. Model of the Castle complex below.

Pic from Wikipedia

One of the key Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order.

The castle is line witrh beutiful hallways and rooms, many of which retain the original wall "frescoes" of the time.

The huge armory museum houses some interesting pieces from all over Europe & Asia.
Above - the first model of the Leatherman. Note the trigger.
I wouldn't be peeking through any holes!

Magic Stained glass art.

Upper Castle inside court - to get the right perspective bend your neck 75 degrees to the right!
Now to the left and right again!.
This reminds me of the SDC exercises every hour!

The Teutonic Kitchen! Only 700+ years old!
Happy to cook in there! Original stones and woodfire.

The Gdansk wardrobe which was well known throughout europe.
One of these and I could retire!

The square courtyard and open hallways are identical, so how does one find the loo?
Well this little gargoyle on this corner shows the needy & busting the way to relief!
Which way is he pointing?

ONCE YOU GET THERE SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO THE ALMIGHTY "PLOP" IN THE MOTE BELOW. WE MISS OUT ON SO MUCH IN THE MOD CON WORLD.
Imagine the draft - "Feelin the breeze in freezin January"
No need for cold showers!
Feel free to add your comments belowe!
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The views from the tower are impressive. The Teutonics could see the enemy coming from a long way off, yet greed won the day and the mercenaries sold the castle to the highest bidder.

Three huge gates and two motes in this section. No wonder it could not be taken!
Still used today for film making.

Till tomorrow I hope.....adjusting to Australian time could take a while. It's midnite and Jamie is just setting his train system up! Maybee time to play with some pics or have lunch?

Back Home & a dozen blogs behind!!!

This morning we arrived back to the sunburnt country we call home! A great feeling it was to walk in the back door and fine a few welcoming balloons and mice that had a party under our matrimonial bed! We were not aware but we provided it / them with food in the form of a wheat filled war up in the microwave bag. A god chance to throw away a few things. The pump up mattress didn't survive neither did my sheep skin slippers which are ideal for mice and men in the cold Ballarat nites! (THE PRE-LOVED SLIPPERS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON EBAY SOON! Expressions of interest invited.)

It was nice to see a few apples left on the trees and taste these (a few stray rasberries also) -( a Johnny Appleseed blog coming up soon)

The Holiday Blog Continues!

Gdansk

Hello,

Gdansk the Independent city earler last century was the centre of commerce adn business in a strategic location in the Baltic. No wonder it is a rich and beautiful city! Ania took the last 10 or so pics...looks like she has a good eye! (not only one). After a full day here it was off to Malbork. The gigantic Teutonic castle. Enjoy the pics.

Day 2/3 - To Hell and back! !!!

I couldn't write this post soon enough! Ever since I was a kid and got my first map of Poland i always wanted to got to Hel.... right at the end of the Polish world. We weren't going to miss out on this opprtiunity.....will we make it backfrom Hell and tell about it? What is life like in Hel? Going to hell sounded like a fun thing for once.

Well let me tell you, Hell is a fishing town built at the end of a 35km spit. There is just one way to get there! Stright down! No Joke! When we were driving down the spit I kept asking Ania why it always felt that we were going downhill? Just felt really crazy!!! It also got progressively mistier and spookier.... until we reached Hel....then it was sunshine all round! Reality may be a little inverted... ;-)

Where is Wally & where is Hel?

You can also fly to Hel in style

Above s Hel's coat of arms. It has a key and two stars. Below we have Vatican's coat of arms that has two keys. Seems it's easier to go and unlock Hel.
You can draw your own conclusions.
;-)
A conspiracy?
No, just a coincidental joke.

Hel is a place of rest and relaxation for the seals at least. below... it makes them snigger when thya see you in hel.

The tip of Hel, awesome!

Walk the plank in Hel.
or
Go to Helkamp! Looks cosey!

Main street in Hel can bee eeeriee at night. The fog descends and the whole place changes character! Abve our little restaurant.

Local CFA in Hel. Seems like Hel fire needs putting out when it gets too hot! Strange! I would have thought - the hotter the better.

Above we have the remains of the previous hell in Poland. The communist experiment sponsored by the elite obviously didn't work for people's benefit. Relics abound in certain spots.

Next few shots are of post WW2 defence bunkers etc. that have fallen into disrepair or tourist guides hands (above)

c

Walking to the tip of Hel.

Making a phone call to our kids from Hell.

"Vacant room" in Hel, the best hell has to offer.......forget any decent views. Just 4 brick walls. (and a one way door I think)

The Port of Hel @ nite!
Scary!

Pirate ship in Hel

Old polish warship - floating museum.

Now the good and bad news about hell.

We made it back from Hel, no coming back from hell.
As any good firefghter knows sooner or later the fire goes out as it runs out of fuel.

The good news is that from the biblical perspective Hell is not an everburning, tortoure ridden place as portrayed by majority of faiths and folklore - Jesus referred to hell as hades (grave) and Ghenna - a place where rubbish and everything else to be destroyed is burnt. It was also a real place outside of Jerusalem where stuff was burnt in the Valey of Hinom.

So cheer up.... Hel in Poland is a great place to visit..... and if you don't want to vist hell you need to get to know Jesus who paid the price to keep you out of hell.

No place like Hel!

Cheers