The fortified settlement on the site of the future Gerdaunen Castle was built long before the arrival of the Teutonic Order in the Prussian land of Barta. In the early 13th century, the wooden fortress was called Gerdavia — named after its owner, the Prussian chieftain Gerdav (Girdave) from the Rendalia clan. Later, the name changed to Gerdaunen. After the suppression of the first Prussian uprising in 1251, Barta was captured by the Teutonic Order. The chieftain Gerdav welcomed the new authority and converted to Christianity. When in 1257 the Order established a commandery in the lands of Barta, the commander's residence was for some time located in the Gerdaunen fortress. During the second Prussian uprising, Gerdav and his warriors did not support their tribesmen and remained loyal to the Order.

The Gerdaunen fortress withstood a long siege by Prussian warriors led by Divane (Dyuvane), but hunger overcame Gerdav’s warriors. Then he set fire to the fortress with his own hand, broke through the siege, and fled to Königsberg. After the suppression of the uprising, which lasted 12 years, representatives of the Rendalia clan returned to their lands and restored the fortress.

According to historians, the Prussian chieftain Gerdav became so fervently devoted to Christ that he obtained permission from Pope Innocent IV to build a church (the church he built and consecrated in honor of Saints Peter and Paul still exists today).

In the early 14th century, the commander's residence was again located in the Gerdaunen fortress. In 1315, by order of the commander of Königsberg, Heinrich von Isenberg (Eisenberg), it was decided to replace the wooden fortress with a stone castle, and to build a mill below, on the Omet River (now the Stogovaya River).

The construction was overseen by Commander Johannes von Winnungen. The new Gerdaunen Castle was solemnly consecrated on the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul in 1325. It was an elongated fortification along the top of a hill, approximately 135×46 meters in size. In the wider western part was the outer bailey with two large stone wings. The southern wing, measuring 46×15 meters, had at least three floors and cellars with cylindrical vaults. The eastern wing, presumably of the same height, had cellars with vaulted ceilings. The Gerdaunen Castle itself was located in the western part. It consisted of a single building measuring 26×13 meters, stretched from west to east. This was a traditional rectangular three-story structure with walls two meters thick. Gerdaunen Castle was surrounded by a parkham (outer defensive wall), and most likely had a danzker tower on the northern side above the stream that curved around the castle from the north and east. The western part of the hill was reinforced with a retaining wall made of huge boulders.

After the Thirteen Years’ War, in 1469, Gerdaunen Castle was handed over by the Order for debts to Georg von Schlieben. This knight from Saxony commanded a large mercenary detachment fighting on the side of the Order. From 1672, no one lived in the castle, and it gradually fell into ruin. By the end of the 17th century, the buildings in the outer bailey were dismantled down to the first floor.

Legends say that Gerdaunen Castle had several underground passages, one of which led from the left wing of the outer bailey to the shore of Lake Baktinsee (now Lake Nikitskoye). Another underground passage led from the well to the church.

In 1833, Gerdaunen Castle was sold to Colonel Baron von Romberg.

His son Max demolished all the outer bailey structures in 1872 and built a residential house in their place. On the site of the former defensive moat, a promenade for romantic walks and a grotto styled as a cave with stalactites were arranged. In 1882, Gerdaunen Castle was purchased by Alfred von Janson, of Scottish origin. The Janson family owned the castle until the end of the war.

During World War I, Gerdaunen Castle was practically undamaged, although the city itself was heavily destroyed. World War II also did not cause serious damage to the castle.

After 1945, the residential house on the territory of Gerdaunen Castle was demolished, and the former carriage house was converted into a veterinary clinic. Under its building, the cellars of the Order’s castle were discovered, which had not been used all this time. In 1999, a corner part of the cellar collapsed, and in 2000, part of the veterinary clinic’s wall collapsed into the resulting hole.

The Gerdaunen Castle building in the western part of the courtyard was intact after the war but unused, and by 1980 it was a ruin without ceiling floors. In the late 1970s, the nearly ruined building was used for filming the movie "Long Miles of War" by the A. P. Dovzhenko Film Studio. In 1990, the ruins of Gerdaunen Castle were leased by an Armenian family who tried to convert it into a hotel with a restaurant. From the southern side, the walls of the second floor and the grand staircase were demolished, a first-floor window was turned into a door, and concrete blocks were laid at the second-floor level for a balcony. Due to the financial crisis of 1991, the work was stopped. The building continues to deteriorate.

Source:

https://travelkap.ru

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