The Preussisch Eylau Castle is a castle of the Teutonic Order built in 1325 and located in Bagralionovsk, near Kaliningrad. It received the status of a cultural heritage site of regional significance by decree of the Government of the Kaliningrad on March 23, 2007. On October 11, 2022, it was sold 7.6 million rubles to the company “GreenArtDevelopment” four years after it was put up for auction
In historical documents, the first mention of the castle occurs in 1326, where it is called “Ile”, in the records of 1342 the name mentioned is “Iladia”, in 1400 the name changes once again and it becomes “Preissish-Ilov” (Preussisch-eylau), name which stuck.
The grand master of the Teutonic Order Werner von Orseln ordered the construction of Ile Castle in 1325. The main purpose of the fortress was to protect the capital of the region Krulevets (Koenigsberg) from the south. Balga Commander, master Arnold von Eilenstein supervised the construction of the Preussisch Eylau Castle, which was originally carried out from stones and brick on the site of the Prussian fortress of Sutvrit.
A dam with a mill was built, the water level rose and the castle ended up on an island. In 1330, a square-shaped stone fortification of 41 m x 43 m was built, surrounded by a moat, a portcullis gate, a tower and a drawbridge. A large forburg of 120 x 140 meters, which was surrounded by its own moat and a fortress wall, 1.6 meters thick with a defensive passage, was attached to the fortification on the eastern side. There were stables, a brewery, premises for the soldiers of the order, workshops for the manufacture of weapons, a bakery, and other outbuildings.
By Sendker -, CC BY-SA 3.0,
The main entrance to the castle citadel Preussisch-Eylau was in the eastern wing from the forburg. The castle chapel which was an obligatory attribute of a typical order castle was in the southern wing, and a sanitary tower could be found in the northern part.
The first floor was occupied by outbuildings, including the kitchen, which was located under the refectory, and utility rooms. On the second floor of the western wing was the accommodation and residence of the brothers of the order, which included a refectory, a meeting room, the bedrooms of the monks and the chambers that were occupied by the manager of the castle. The third floor, performed defensive functions and was equipped with a military passage and loopholes. There was also a small round watchtower in the northeast corner. To have an easy access to water there was a well in the castle courtyard.
Until 1347 the Preussisch Eylau castle was the residence of the order pfleger, then it housed the administration of the kammerat, belonging to the Balga commandery.
In 1400, after being struck by lightning all wooden parts of the castle burned down. The Preussisch Eylau castle passed to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Heinrich von Plauen for military service in 1429.
/Photo: mif-mira.ru
The Preussisch Eylau castle was captured and partially damaged by the rebellious population in 1454 but it was returned that same year and the damages were repaired.
It came under attack in May 1455 by a Polish-allied army which was unable to capture it even though the garnison protecting the castle was only composed of two dozen knights and sixty militias. A siege didn’t pan out neither since help was sent to the castle and the Polish-allied army was defeated.
There was another unsuccessful attempt to take the castle in October 1455.
The Preussisch Eylau castle and surrounding lands were transferred to Heinrich Reuss von Plauen for life use in 1492.
More than 4000 Polish mercenaries again repeatedly attacked the castle in 1519, but the castle garrison which was led by the knight Friedrich Truchses Weltburg and the Courland commander Firike repelled the successive attacks.
The castle became the residence of the departmental estate of Hauptmann Preussisch Eylau in 1525 after a reformation and the abolition of the Teutonic Order. Then it received city rights on 1585, and in 1587 its coat of arms.
By the end of the 18th century, the castle had lost its purpose and part of its building were disassembled and used to built new structures.
A fire damaged the Preussisch Eylau castle in 1802 but it was not restored and the Forburg was used for economic purposes. In 1814, it was bough by Heinrich Sigismund Valentini who built a new house a kilometer northwest of the castle after the castle began to collapse because of lack of part of the roof.
In 1831 a new Henrettenhof manor was built in the neoclassical style. It is on the foundations of the Preussisch Eylau fortress fort between the eastern wing and the barn.
| Help the site stay free, buy us a cup of coffee |  | Aidez-nous à maintenir le site gratuit en nous offrant une tasse de café |
The old manor building located on the territory of the Preussisch Eylau castle was given to the city magistrate of Preussish-Eylau in 1932, and this same year a museum covering the period of the regions history from the stone age to the events of the First World War was open there. Sadly, in the post war period the building was completely dismantled.
During the Second World War , the castle was not badly damaged, and the living quarters were used until the early 1960s.
The Preussisch Eylau castle and forburg were transferred to the district consumer union in 1961, and were used as storage facilities.
In 1964 the buildings of the castle and forburg were examined by employees of the central scientific and restoration workshops of the USSR Ministry of Culture. The condition of the castle was very poor, as it was never repaired after the war.
A shooting gallery was built on the site of the western wing, which was demolished in the 1990s. In the surviving forburg, the roof began to collapse because of rotten rafters, holes appeared in 1989 and in August 1990 the middle section burned down.
In the early 1990s, a decision was made to convert the forburg into a hotel with a bar, but it was abandoned.
On June 5, 2016, a fire broke out in the castle, destroying part of the roof.
On August 29, 2018, the regional authorities tried to sell the castle at an auction, but they didn’t succeed.
They again tried to sell the building in 2020, but could not find a buyer. Finally the castle was sold for 7.6 million rubles at the auction of the GreenArt Development company in 2022. “GreenArtDevelopment” is registered in St. Petersburg and is engaged in rental and property management.
I hope you enjoyed this article
| If you liked this article, subscribe , put likes, write comments! |
| Share on social networks |
| Check out Our Latest Posts |
AKirill, Learn, apprenez, translation, traduction, livres bilingues, bilingual books 
2 thoughts on “Discover the Preussisch Eylau Castle”