Malbork

Malbork (pronounce: , Latin: Civitas Beatae Virginis, German: Marienburg) is a town in northern Poland in the ?u?awy region, with 41,000 inhabitants (2001), capital of Malbork County. Situated in the Pomeranian Voivodship since 1999, previously in Elbl?g Viovodship (1975-1998).

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The city of Malbork was built around the fortress of 'Malbork' (originally Marienburg in German), founded in 1274 on the right bank of the river Nogat by the Teutonic Knights and named for their patron saint, the Virgin Mary. This fortified castle became the seat of the Teutonic Order and Europe's largest Gothic fortress. The river and flat terrain allowed easy access for barges a hundred kilometers from the sea. During Prussia's government by the Teutonic Knights, they collected tolls on river traffic and imposed a monopoly of the amber trade. The city later became a member of the Hanseatic League, and many Hanse meetings were held there. The castle successfully withstood a siege after the Battle of Grunwald under the guidance of Heinrich von Plauen. However, it was sold during the Thirteen Years' War in 1457 to Casimir IV, the king of Poland, by the Bohemian king's imperial soldiers in lieu of their pay. The city of Malbork under mayor Bartholom?us Blume resisted the Poles for three further years, until he was hanged. Since then, Marienburg became one of the Polish royal residences until the partitions of Poland in 1772. In 1945 the castle was severely damaged as a result of fighting during World War II, but was reconstructed thereafter.

Latin: Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. The ...

German: German may mean:...

Town: In American English, a town is usually a municipal corporation that is smaller than a city but larger than a village. In some cases, "town" is an alternate name for "city" or "village" (especially a larger village). Sometimes, the word "town" is short for "township."...

Malbork related Images and Photos (experimental)

Teutonic Castle of Malbork at Sunset Malbork Poland