Insterburg Castle

Insterburg Castle (Burg Insterburg) is located in the Kaliningrad region in the city of Chernyakhovsk (until 1946 — the city of Insterburg). It was founded in 1336 by order of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Dietrich von Altenburg, on the Angerapp River, near the mouth of the Inster — on the site of the Unzetrapis settlement, which was destroyed in 1256 during the Order’s military campaign in Nadrowia.

The castle belongs to the category of “water” castles (a ring of water flowed around the castle: to the east the Angrapa (German Angerapp), to the south the Chernuppe — a small stream that flowed with strong pressure from the upper mill pond, and to the west and north the water of the Chernuppe was directed into the castle moat). It was built from oak logs by the forces of the subdued Prussians under the supervision of the Order’s Oberst-Marshal from Königsberg.

Exact information about the time when the wooden castle was transformed into a stone one is absent. The original stone form of Insterburg Castle has not survived, as it was twice destroyed and burned: in 1376 by the Lithuanian prince Skirgaila and in 1457 during the Prussian cities’ war. However, the foundation masonry made of large field stones survived the fires and destruction.

Insterburg Castle served a dual purpose: it was a bastion against enemy Lithuanian attacks and simultaneously a gateway for the Order’s military raids. The castle garrison initially failed to cope with this difficult task. The Grand Master Heinrich von Dusemer reproached the castle in 1347 for not resisting the Lithuanian attack strongly enough. Furthermore, when determining the castle’s income, it was found that such a large garrison could not be maintained in such a remote place as the commandery. Therefore, in 1347 Insterburg was downgraded in rank and became a pflegeramt (administrative office).

The castle in its preserved late form had characteristic features of the East Prussian type of medieval defensive structures, combining the functions of a military fortress and a residence for knights united into a single complex.

The castle complex consisted of a citadel (convent house) and a foreburg. The citadel was a square, enclosed two-story building with massive solid outer walls and an inner courtyard with a well — it served as living quarters for the Order’s brothers and for the activities of the district convent. The basement walls at the cellar level were laid from natural stone using Gothic masonry techniques. Above that was masonry made of fired medieval bricks with narrow loopholes in the outer walls. The top of the walls was finished with a fighting circular walkway — a wall-walk — covered by a steep pitched roof. The citadel had a single arched entrance in the western wing. The foreburg was an enclosed elongated space surrounded by defensive walls, following the contour of the hilltop. The broken-line defensive walls were flanked at the corners by two tall watchtowers with loopholes.

Being on the frontline of military actions, the castle was for a long time unattractive to civilians. Settlements around the castle were first mentioned in 1466 — by that time three settlements had formed here: the Freiheyt settlement near the southern castle walls, the Hakelwerk settlement with an inn on the southern side of the Mill Pond, and the Prussian village Sparge in the upper reaches of the Angrapa. Their inhabitants engaged in trade and agriculture.

In 1500, the foreburg expanded due to the addition of utility buildings on the inner side of the defensive walls. After 1525, the castle was transformed into the residence of the Main Administration of the Insterburg district. The first administrator appointed was Johan Paine. On October 10, 1583, based on a charter from Margrave Georg Friedrich von Ansbach (1539–1603), Insterburg received city privileges — its own court, city coat of arms, and seal.

In the turbulent 17th century, the castle was constantly a target of attacks and a place of refuge. In 1679, the castle could not withstand the onslaught of Swedish troops and was taken on January 1.

During this period, it was often visited by ruling electors, and Swedish Queen Maria Eleonora lived in Insterburg Castle from 1642, which contributed to the city’s development. In 1704, the Polish nobleman Czartoryski fled from the Swedish King Charles XII and found refuge here with his family.

In the following years, Insterburg often suffered from wars; Polish and Swedish troops invaded the city and castle, looting and destroying. Problems were also caused by the administrators appointed to maintain order. Taking advantage of the fact that important nobles rarely visited the city for inspections, local officials moved out of the castle into private houses and completely neglected affairs, caring only about accumulating personal wealth. This situation continued until the early 18th century, when during the Seven Years’ War Insterburg came under Russian control. The officials fled to Königsberg, leaving everything to the conquerors. The Russians rebuilt the castle for their needs, created halls for receiving guests, and turned the garden into a public place.

To strengthen the foreburg’s defense, it was equipped with towers that served watch and combat functions. Additionally, prison cells were installed in them, and dungeons were located in the basement of one of the towers. In critical situations, soldiers could escape outside through an underground passage. It led from the northern tower, ran under the fortress moat, and brought fugitives to the river.

In the 18th–19th centuries, Insterburg housed in turn the court, a warehouse for military forage and food supplies, a 200-bed hospital (during Napoleon’s campaign), and a squadron of uhlan barracks. All this led to numerous reconstructions and renovations of the buildings. By the mid-19th century, only the citadel walls, buildings in the foreburg, and one corner tower — the Paine Tower, which had a clock — remained from the former complex. Throughout the 19th century, the foreburg was repeatedly rebuilt for the needs of the district court. During this, part of the defensive walls was apparently demolished.

The city was not spared from the wars of the 19th–20th centuries. Napoleon and his army stayed in the castle; during World War I, battles between Russian and German armies took place on Insterburg territory; during World War II, the city was repeatedly bombed by British aviation.

After World War I, a local history museum of the Insterburg Antiquities Society was established in the castle citadel, while the foreburg continued to be under the jurisdiction of the district court.

In 1945, the castle was stormed and damaged by fire. After the war, a military unit was stationed in the surviving buildings. Presumably in 1949, the castle citadel was almost completely destroyed by fire (only the outer walls remained). From that moment, the dismantling of the foreburg buildings for bricks began (materials were taken to Lithuania for the restoration of national economy facilities). In the early 1950s, the castle territory was transferred to Repair and Construction Department No. 1.

To this day, the castle has survived in a semi-ruined state. The southern utility buildings of the foreburg along with the defensive wall have been preserved in their original form. From the citadel, only the shell of the outer walls remains, except for the western wing, which was dismantled in the post-war period. At that time, the last castle tower — the Paine Tower — was also dismantled. The northern and northwestern sides of the foreburg have not survived — only part of the defensive wall adjacent to the citadel on the eastern side remains.

In 2010, due to the transfer of the site to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church, funding for works under the Federal Target Program was discontinued.

Sources:

https://fb.ru/article/259781/zamok-insterburg-opisanie-istoriya-interesnyie-faktyi

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Замок_Инстербург