Giżycko Castle

Giżycko Castle is situated in the town of Giżycko, Poland, and was originally built by the Teutonic Order during the late 14th century. Its location on a narrow strip of land between Lakes Niegocin and Kisajno made it a strategic point near the Giżycko Canal.

Before the stone castle’s construction, a wooden fortress operated in the area under the Teutonic Order, with the earliest record dating back to 1340. At that time, a Teutonic procurator, an official wielding judicial, military, and administrative powers over northern Galindia, resided there. It remains unclear whether this early stronghold stood precisely where the current castle is or on a nearby hill known in later centuries as Stary Lec (Old Castle) or Alt-Lötzischen Schanze. In 1361, Lithuanian forces led by Kiejstut burned a Teutonic fortification in Giżycko, though whether this was the wooden fortress at the later castle site or another nearby location is unknown.

By around 1400, a stone Gothic building was established on the present site, functioning as a modest commandery subordinate to the nearby Pokarmin. However, this stone castle was relatively small and offered only limited defensive capabilities, bearing resemblance to a comparable Teutonic castle in Bezławki.

During the Thirteen Years’ War between Poland and the Teutonic Order (1454–1466), local inhabitants set fire to the castle in 1455, causing significant damage. Following this event, official Teutonic administration disappeared from records until a procurator reappeared in 1497. Meanwhile, a nearby settlement renewed its village privileges in 1475 under the name Nowa Wieś Leczen, reflecting local administrative developments.

In the early 16th century, the castle’s garrison was made up of about fifteen individuals, including brothers and servants as recorded in 1507–1508. Starting in 1513, the castle was under the control of secular administrators rather than religious or military officials. Again caught up in conflict during 1520, the Teutonic garrison chose to burn the castle and abandon it amid renewed hostilities with Poland.

In 1560, starost Lehndorff ordered the castle’s reconstruction under the supervision of Christoph Römer from Königsberg. This restoration likely included adding the current Renaissance-style gable. Later, in 1614, an inscription above the entrance marks the castle’s conversion into a ducal hunting lodge. During the Baroque period, two small side wings were added; however, these were destroyed by fire in 1749 and subsequently dismantled.

By the mid-19th century, the castle came under military jurisdiction and was adapted in 1852 to provide housing for commanders of the nearby Boyen Fortress. After the Second World War, the castle was left abandoned until archaeological excavations began in 1969. Renovations in the 1960s allowed for new use as a hotel, and the site was officially registered as a historic monument in 1979. Further archaeological research took place in 2000 under the direction of Dr. Marek Gula. Despite some damage to a wall in 2007, restoration work funded by the European Union between 2009 and 2011 helped preserve the castle and maintain its function as a hotel.