Ostróda Castle

Ostróda Castle is a castle located in the region of the Ostróda County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship; in Poland.

The first Teutonic stronghold in the area comes from 1270. This was a wooden structure, located on a former Prussian gord, located on a small island in between the waters of the Lake Dwęrcki and the River Drwęca. The castle in Ostróda was at first the headquarters for the Starosta of Ostróda, who was subordinate to the authority of the Komtur of Dzierzgoń. A new stronghold was built between 1350 and 1370. The Komtur of Ostróda Günter von Hohenstein is known for raising the castle in Ostróda and Teutonic Castle in Świecie. In contrast with the castle in Świecie, the Ostróda castle had no towers, which were rare in Teutonic architecture up until the fourteenth century. In 1381, two castle structures existed, a new and old, which were both burned down by Lithuanian Duke Kęstutis.

From a Teutonic scripture: "...castrum Osterode novum cum antiquoplene exustum est" – (the new castle in Ostróda together with the old one was completely burned down).

Getting ready for the new war with the Kingdom of Poland, the castle was surrounded by a moat. The moat was filled with water. The moat was filled in with soil in the eighteenth century. The access point from the east of the castle was by a bascule bridge, which led to a granite gate. The village surrounding the castle served means for keeping storage, brewery and a forge. In the Battle of Grunwald the castle was used to support the defence against the Polish army. The castle became greatly diminished in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During World War II the castle was burned down by the Wehrmacht Army. The castle's reconstruction began in 1974. Currently, the castle houses a gallery, library and a museum.

Text adapted from “Ostróda Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ostróda Castle ranks #4,360 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #165 of the 374 mapped in Poland. Founded 1349, it is older than 59% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 604 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,327 times in the last 60 days, more than 56% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. It is one of the 25 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Warmia and Masuria. See how Poland compares in the castle statistics.

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