Took a train from Gdansk to Malbork at 640 am, and changed at Tczew (trust me, it was NOT easy to hear announcements about that destination). Gdansk was big and had english signs, but Tczew (pronounced 'chev' sort of) was a small station and I was very luckythat I found an English speaker who pointed me to the right train because there were only 6 min to transfer. This pretty railway bridge spanned the Vistula (Poland's longest river).
First view of Malbork castle from the train pulling into Malbork (there's a picture later of a train on the same bridge, from the castle).
Malbork station, like the castle, is a gothic brick structure
Colourful local train (that I took from Tczew to Malbork)
First view of the castle walking back to it from the train station.
St Mary's chapel. The big white gaping alcove is 9 metres high and had an enormous 8m mosaic covered statue of Mary. I think it is currently being restored.
Got there an hour before it opened, so wandered around taking lots of pictures of the outside of the castle. Malbork was the stronghold of Teutonic knight-monks in the 14th century, who controlled much of what is now Poland.
There was an open air exhibition of old photographs outside the castle - and No. 15 had a strange caption
Quite a few school children and tour groups were waiting for the castle gates to open
Fisherman returning from the river
Main entrance to the middle castle over the moat.
Entering the castle
The great refectory. Off limits because of restoration work but I peeked in anyway.
Surveyors near the refectory.
Towards the high castle (the heart, and highest part of the castle)
The amber museum inside the castle had a spectacular collection of the "Baltic gold", with exhibits that spanned medieval pieces (found in the castle) and contemporary designs made in Gdansk, and as far away as Chicago!
Tried to get a close up of this piece because the amber in the base had insects trapped in it.
Memorial to Copernicus, born in the area.
Stained glass in the middle castle
Contemporary stained glass windows overlooking the castle courtyard (I liked the effect of a whole scene through the subtle colours and warps of the individual panes)
The armoury museum in Malbork castle had one of the best displays I have ever seen - with little stories, blow ups of illustrations from manuscripts etc. This etching of knights in deadly combat looked funny with its plump twittering birds flying off in the top left corner
Painting of the seige of Malbork (the castle could survive 2 years without external supplies)
Another great exhibit with dozens of arrows shooting into the air along with other seige weapons.
Medieval knights could only smoke in this part of the castle.
Nicolas - the only other person I met all day who spoke English. Later in the afternoon, I ran into a Polish lady who married an Indian and now lives in Delhi (she was the other one who spoke English). I think I may have been the only non-Caucasian in all of Malbork that day, which might explain why the kids kept staring at me!
Castle well.
The guide for these kids showed them into the castle dungeons...
And then locked them inside!
And let them out after 10 seconds. All the kids were laughing except one.
The kitchen area had a terrific exhibit of how it might have looked in medieval times
The great chapter hall, with seats for commanders from each area controlled by the castle
The grand commander's chair was occasionally taken by lesser mortals.
Tiles on the floor of the great chapter hall
Inside St Mary's chapel.
There were several exhibitions in the dormitory area of the castle, where I started to realize that the castle had undergone several avtaars. The brick looked very new so I knew the walls weren't as they had been in medieval times, but I assumed that the castle plan had remained the same. But these pictures reminded me that the whole castle had been bombed extensively during WWII (by the Russians and Americans towards the end of the war) and painstakingly rebuilt.
But the real suprise was finding that the castle had been 'renovated' by a german architect in the late 1800s, and that the design was "gothicized" to make it look more like what the Germans thought it should look like. Some paintings of the castle from the early 1800s showed it looking very different than what it looks like today (which is based on the german reconstruction).
Extensive sketches/drawings and plans were exhibited to show how the reconstruction was done and it was fascinating to think about how the Germans changed the spires to make it look more gothic, etc.
The castle after WWII
Conrad Steinbrecht - the architect who "renovated" the castle in the late 1800s.
The summer refectory - a light airy room with several window seats where the monks probably curled up with their mystery novels in their break time ;-)
Climbing up to the top of the main tower
The views get better.
Nicolas works in a French GSM company and was driving/camping around Poland, the Czech republic, and a few other places, for three weeks. He was heading to Gdansk that day to see a historical re-enactment in the town of some Napoleonic event, so I tagged along .
And then I saw a train crossing the river Nogat. Both Nicolas
New Malbork
Cell phone towers atop the castle!
More trains!
From the top of the castle, we could see a little medieval village scene being played out.
Complete with lock ups
The dansker (a wing of the castle over the moat) where the toilets were basically holes in the ground directly above the moat.
Gargoyle outside the Dansker, needing to go to the loo badly.
The treasury
Spooky treasury display
Behind enormous doors with elaborate locks.
The little round things in the floor are for heating vents.
Someone's personal chamber, I forget who - the chef or the cellar master or something.
What the well dressed knight is wearing. Summer 2007 collection. On sale at tents along the river beside the castle.
