Taplaken Castle

Taplacken Castle — a Teutonic Order castle in the village of Talpaki, Kaliningrad Oblast. Taplacken was built by order of the marshal of the Teutonic Order Heinrich Dusemer von Arfberg in 1336 as a transit point on the route from Königsberg to Insterburg and Tilsit. The name of the castle and the village originated from the name of the Prussian village Talpaken, which meant "warm field." Moreover, the fortress served as a storage place for salt mined in Saalau. The castle remained intact for exactly 40 years: in 1376 it was looted and burned by the Lithuanians. Prince Kęstutis, who was already 79 years old at the time, approached Taplacken with his army and burned it down, capturing the castle's pfleger and part of the garrison. Upon the return of the territory under German control, a decision was made to rebuild the fortress in stone. The Order's reconstruction of the castle took place around 1400, and a safer location was chosen — on a narrow cape protruding from the swamp near the Neman River. Externally, it looked like a rectangular building with a square inner courtyard, surrounded by a wide stone wall. The gates were on the east side, with narrow but tall turrets at the corners. On the west side, outside the wall, a three-story residential wing with a vaulted basement was built. In the courtyard, there was a small covered gallery leading upstairs to the main floor. The chapel was located in the northern part of the wing, a small administrative room in the center, and a dining room in the southern part. In 1525, Taplacken became a ducal domain, and by 1530 the fortress was converted into a manor and became an ordinary agricultural estate.

Taplacken was one of three domains in the Velau district. The main source of income was two water mills. Salt was mined near Taplacken from the 15th century, but this activity ceased in 1536 due to economic inefficiency. In the second half of the 16th century, the fortress became the center of the Kammeramt (chamber office).

In the 18th century, there was also a post office here, and later the castle was rented out. In the 19th century, neo-Gothic gables and a portal were added to the castle. After the 17th century, the castle was leased to tenants, and until 1945 the Schmidtke family lived here. By the 19th century, the castle’s military past was long behind it. In 1871, it was rented by Herr Schmidtke, who expanded the old interiors and adapted them to contemporary needs. The castle housed living rooms, guest rooms, a kitchen, and utility rooms — about 25-30 rooms in total. Next to the castle, Schmidtke built a garage, a covered carriage house, and a poultry house.

During World War II, Taplacken was occupied by the Red Army on January 21, 1945, and the castle suffered heavy damage, as did the entire settlement, being on the main line of the Soviet troops’ advance. Surprisingly, the three-arched bridge remained intact. A new bridge was built alongside it during road leveling. During the fighting in 1945, the main building of the castle was damaged, and by 1946 it was completely burned and destroyed. After 1945, the village was renamed Talpaki. What remained of the 700-year-old castle was immediately turned into communal housing after the war, and in 1948 Soviet settlers moved into the northern wing of the castle.

Sources:

https://www.prussia39.ru/sight/index.php?sid=72

https://kenigo.ru/galereya/zamok-taplaken/

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