Fortress Koenigsberg. The royal castle of Königsberg, and now the ruins .... Video Koenigsberg before the war. Video

The Royal Castle in Warsaw - now a monument of national culture, is included in the State Register of Museums. It was built by order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund III in 1598-1618 on the site of the castle of the Mazovian dukes. The palace was built on an artificial elevation in the shape of a pentagon. The building is distinguished by a 60-meter tower.

Royal Castle - historical monument of architecture

Until 1526, the Royal Castle in Warsaw served as the medieval residence of the royal princes, then until 1569 as the seat of the Sejm of the Commonwealth. Subsequently, until 1795, the castle was the estate of the Polish kings, the royal residence and the seat of the Sejm during the Congress Kingdom and the Principality of Warsaw, and since 1926 it served as the estate of the Directorate of State Collections of Art and the residence of the President of the Commonwealth.

The Royal Castle was destroyed by German troops, first in 1939 and then in 1944. Later, the palace was equipped and rebuilt from the surviving fragments. And since 1979, the castle has been rightfully recognized as a monument of history and national culture, a real landmark of Poland.

Storage of priceless expositions

Now the Royal Castle serves as a museum. It has several viewing rooms:

• council room;
• Big hall;
• oval gallery;
• marble room;
• anteroom in front of the Great Hall;
• conference room;
• knight's hall;
• throne room.

The museum houses exhibitions from different periods. Painting is represented by landscapes of Warsaw, portraits of famous personalities of Poland, the works of Strobl, Smuglevich, Kaufman, Rembrandt's paintings "The Scientist at the Music Stand" and "The Girl in the Hat" occupy a special place.

A valuable object is a unique drawing - the Stockholm Roll, which represents the Entrance of the marriage procession of Sigismund III and Archduchess Constance in 1605. The length of this scroll is more than 15 meters.

The museum also exhibits tapestries, carpets, furniture from Stanislav times, clock collections, crystal and bronze candlesticks, Far Eastern ceramics and Saxon porcelain.

The palace contains archives where you can get acquainted with royal documents, acts of the Royal Castle, the personal archive of the royal family, as well as audiovisual information: transparencies, films, photographs and sound recordings.

Currently, this landmark of Warsaw opens the way to the Old Town. From the castle tower at 11:15 a.m. a trumpeter plays the time signal every day.

How to visit the Royal Castle in Warsaw

The address: plac Zamkowy 4, Warsaw 00-277.

Opening hours:

• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday - 10:00 - 18:00;
• Friday - 10:00 - 20:00;
• Sunday - 11:00 - 18:00;
• Monday is a day off.

Ticket price: for adults - 30 PLN ($5.30); for children under 16 years old - 1 PLN ($0.30).

*On Wednesdays - admission to the permanent exhibitions of the castle is FREE (short route).

Audio guide cost: 17 PLN ($4.50); group ticket (at least 4 people) - 11 PLN ($3)

Available languages: Polish, English, German, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish.

Another royal castle, but already Jan III Sobieski, is represented by Wilanow Palace, which is now open as a museum and a place for concerts and symposiums.

The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a baroque and classicist castle located in Warsaw at Castle Square 4. The palace is a museum and a hallmark of the city.

Royal Castle in Warsaw. Photo from the East-West highway

History of the Royal Castle

At the end of the 13th century, during the reign of the Mazovian prince Konrad II Czersky, a wooden and earthen castle was built, called the "Small Manor" (lat. Curia Minor). The next prince, Casimir III, in 1350 decided to build the first brick building in Warsaw - it became the Great Tower (lat. Turris Magna) (today it is the Grodskaya Tower). Between 1407 and 1410 the Warsaw prince Janusz Mazowiecki erected a castle, the floors of which were made in the Gothic style, and called it "Great Manor" (lat. Curia Maior). The style of the new residence of the Polish princes and its size (47.5 m by 14.5 m) determined the new status of the castle, which since 1414 functioned as a ducal court. Since 1526, when the last princes of Mazovia, Stanisław I and Janusz III, died, the castle became a royal residence, and after the transfer of powers to manage the capital to the Warsaw princes, also the seat of the Sejm and the Senate. After the creation of the Seim of the Commonwealth in 1569, the castle was expanded to include the New Royal Court, designed by the Italian architect Giovanni Baptista di Quadro. October 29, 1611 In the Senate Hall of the castle, Tsar of Russia Vasily Chuisky, captured by Hetman Stanislav Zolkiewski, took a solemn oath to the Polish King Sigismund III. In 1622, he significantly expanded the area of ​​​​the castle thanks to the construction of a modern pentagonal courtyard.

On May 3, 1791, the Four-Year Sejm adopted at the Royal Castle. During the November uprising on January 25, 1831, the Sejm decided to overthrow the Russian Emperor Nicholas I from the post of King of Poland. In retaliation for this act, the Russians remodeled two halls: the Marble Study and the Senator's Chamber. In 1926-1939 the castle was the residence of the President of the Second Polish Republic, Ignacy Mościcki.

After the outbreak of World War II, all movable parts of the castle were moved to the National Museum. During the rescue operation, the curator of the castle's collection, Casimir Brokl, was killed. The castle was seriously damaged during artillery fire on September 17, 1939 - the roofs and helmets of the towers, the roof of the Great Hall were destroyed. After the shelling began at about 11:15, the clock on the statue of Chronos in the Knights' Hall of the Tower of Sigismund, engulfed in flames, stopped. This time has become a symbol for the Castle. And now every day at this very time you can hear a heinal (exact time signal) from the tower of Sigismund.

After the Germans entered Warsaw, it was decided to blow up part of the castle in the place where, according to the "Pabst Plan", the Hall of Glory (in German) was to be built. Volkshalle). At the turn of 1939 and 1940, about 10,000 holes were made in the castle for laying dynamite. However, the castle was not blown up at the time because the shock wave could have destroyed the Kerbedza Bridge, which was needed to transport German troops east. And only in 1944 the castle was blown up - during the events of the Warsaw Uprising.

Nowadays, fewer people realize that the castle we see today is just a building restored after the Second World War. In the few photographs taken in 1945, only small fragments of the walls are visible against the sky. The reconstruction of the Royal Castle, and in fact construction from scratch, began in 1971, when Edvard Gierek became the first secretary of the PUWP Central Committee, and was completed in 1981, when he retired. After the Second World War, almost nothing remained of the old Royal Castle. Only about 2% of the materials used in its reconstruction are genuine.

The Royal Castle is one of the most famous buildings in the world, not because it looks especially impressive, but because it is over 700 years old and was a royal residence in the past, and because Shakespeare used history in his play The Winter's Tale. that actually happened in the castle. The uniqueness of the castle lies in the fact that for 37 years it did not actually exist, and yet it was reborn like a phoenix from the ashes. It was destroyed, being a symbol of Polish statehood, and was restored as a symbol of statehood.

How to get to the Royal Castle for FREE?

Interiors of the Royal Castle

The interiors of the castle were most shaped during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski. Much of the equipment and furniture salvaged during World War II is from this period, although there are also many post-war gifts from around the world.

The most interesting room in the castle is the former Chamber of Deputies, located on the ground floor, on the ceiling of which is the coat of arms of the province:

On the first floor are the New Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of the Senate, where the Sejm was located in a later period and where the Constitution was adopted on May 3, 1791. It was there that Tadeusz Reitan lay down before leaving the ward with the words: "Kill me, do not kill the Fatherland!" In the Senate Hall in 1831, a Decree was adopted on the dethronement of Nicholas I. Later, in retaliation for this decree, the Russian princes divided the chamber into smaller rooms.

On the second floor in the Royal Chambers of Stanisław August Poniatowski is the Knight's Hall, which houses portraits of prominent Polish scientists and artists, as well as statues of Glory and Chronos with a clock on their backs. In another room - the Marble Study - there are portraits of Polish kings. Both rooms introduce visitors to Polish history before they enter the throne room, furnished and decorated by Jan Christian Kamsetzer. Also on the second floor are the Great Hall, designed by Dominik Merlini and Jan Christian Kamsetzer.

Photo of the throne room

How to get to the Royal Castle?

Summer opening hours (May - September): Monday - Wednesday: 10:00 - 18:00, Thursday: 10:00 - 20:00, Friday - Saturday: 10:00 - 18:00, Sunday 11:00 - 18:00.

Opening hours in winter (October - April): Tuesday - Saturday: 10:00 - 16:00, Sunday: 11:00 - 16:00.

Entrance fee: 30 PLN, children under 16: 1 PLN.

Additional facts

• A model of the Royal Castle can be seen in the Minimundus park in the Austrian city of Klagenfurt, which has a fine collection of models of the most famous buildings in the world (including a model of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the Pyramid of Giza and the now defunct World Trade Center tower in New York) .
• Original fragments of cornices and windows of the castle, created at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, can be seen in the Warsaw Uprising Museum.
• In honor of the dramatic events that took place in September 1939, every day at 11.15 a.m. the Heinal of the Royal Castle is heard from the Clock Tower. The melody, written by Zbigniew Bagiński, is based on the motives of "Warsawianka". Hejnal is repeated three times to emphasize Poland's core patriotic values: God, Honor and Fatherland. Heinal was first performed on May 3, 1995, and since 2008 it has been the official time signal in Warsaw.

Perhaps someone will now say “fu, remake”, and I will say that the newly built Royal Castle in the center of Warsaw is very cool. And although he does not cause admiration, but his presence here definitely causes respect. Especially if you look at what was left of it after its methodical destruction in the period from 1939 to 1944 in the photo under the cut (here I remembered the Kaliningrad, that is, Königsberg, Royal Castle, but that's another story). And the fact that it is a “remake” is nothing terrifying: some 100 years will pass and it will cease to be a “remake”.

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First, a fortress appeared on an artificial hill above the Vistula. It was built in 1294-1313 by Prince Bolesław II, ruler of Mazovia. Since that time, the fortress (and later the castle) became the residence of the Mazovian princes, and then the Polish kings. As often happens, each owner contributed and diligently completed the construction, altered and strengthened. But the global reconstruction of the castle took place in 1569 and lasted 13 years. Italian architects were engaged in restructuring and thanks to them the Royal Castle acquired a Renaissance look.


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In 1596, Warsaw became the de facto residence of the Polish kings and the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, and in 1600 another rebuilding of the castle was started. After 19 years, it was turned into a large complex, very similar to what we can see now. But during the Swedish invasion in 1655-1656, all this splendor was looted and partially destroyed.


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Restoration work began during the reign of King Augustus II (since 1697). The 18th century was rich in transformations - at first the castle suffered again during the Northern War, then the projects for its next restructuring were coordinated for a long time, but during this time part of the castle managed to burn down. New architects and new projects appeared, however, they had more to do with the alteration of the apartments, and not the appearance.


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The 19th century was fickle and extremely diverse for the owners of the castle. We will not deal with their many now and will immediately move on to 1918, when Poland regained independence and became a republic. The castle became the official front building. In 1935, the Constitution was signed in the Knights' Hall.


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The first bombs fell on the Royal Castle in 1939. It was decided to save everything that could be endured. In three weeks, art historians, architects and employees of the National Museum moved 80% of the art from the castle. Now they form the basis of the interiors of the restored building. But people didn't stop there. In the winter of 1939-1940, they dismantled doors, panels, floors, fireplaces, moldings, ceiling lamps, and even fragments of paintings. They hid everything that could be carried away, because the complete destruction of the castle had already been announced. To do this, holes were drilled in the walls of buildings every 75 centimeters in several rows. In September 1944, explosives were placed in these holes, and only a pile of stones remained in place of the castle.


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Rebuilding the Royal Castle began in 1971, although the decision to do so was made as early as 1949. True, in those days there was something to rebuild besides him - Warsaw was almost completely destroyed. The Poles are very fond of their “Phoenix that has risen from the ashes” also because all the construction was carried out with funds raised by the people. During the construction, everything that was saved and hidden in the basements of the National Museum was used.

8.

In 1984, the Royal Castle opened as a museum. Many halls have the look in which they were created under the brightest of their owners. All art objects were rescued from the Knights' Hall, which now stand in their original places. Including Kronos, who continues to carry his heavy load and point out to us with the tip of a scythe the transience of our earthly hours.

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The Great Hall at the time of the kings was a banquet-ballroom, as well as a ceremonial-reception.


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I personally liked the Marble Chamber the most. Its first version was made in the middle of the 17th century.


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The throne room of the castle is extremely laconic.


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But the conversation room next to it (or the Cabinet of European Monarchs) is painted from top to bottom.

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To be honest, here I wanted to take off my shoes.


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The private royal rooms have also been restored. There are six in total. This is the most beautiful with the official name "bedchamber". There are no other beds in the room, only this one. It is unlikely that she is foldable. Therefore, I would like to think that King Stanisław Augustus slept somewhere else, and here he only rested between worries about the state.


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In one of the audience rooms we were captivated by the fireplace. Hercules and the lions were discharged from Rome at the end of the 18th century.


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Absolutely amazing Canaletto Hall. It is surprising that all 23 paintings by the famous Venetian artist survived the war. True, they were taken to Germany, but returned to the Royal Castle in 1984 safe and sound.


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Entrance to the Small Chapel.


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John Paul II prayed here twice. Now several times a year they serve a holy mass here.

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Senate Chamber. Such decoration was seen by members of the Senate during meetings. And the throne even remembers the august ass, because it was saved during the war.


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Well, a little more fabulous beauty and we go out to the Castle Square. Where they walk, clatter and smile invitingly. After all, Warsaw does not live as a "castle alone".


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According to the historical information that has come down to us, Königsberg Castle was founded in 1255. He settled on the beach Pregel River. The castle owes its appearance king of Bohemia Ottokar II Przemysl. At that time, he led the troops of the crusaders to fight the Prussians, who were pagans.

There is an assumption that the name of the castle, which later became a city, was given in honor of the king. In German it means - royal mountain. But these are just guesses. Many centuries have passed since then, and the castle has gone through the most terrible stages over the years, up to the point that it was almost completely destroyed. But even in the state that it has survived to this day, it still looks interesting. By the way, this is where they continue look for the Amber Room, conducting archaeological excavations. It should be noted that this castle is also one of the oldest similar historical buildings in the region.

Now it is also called Royal, although objectively speaking, only only ruins and the former greatness has to be imagined. By the way, it is not difficult to get to this object, because it is open for visits. It is part of the Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Art. It is curious that the inhabitants of the city gave it another name "Viewpoint". But don't let it fool you. There are no climbs to high points.

History and architecture of the castle

As we mentioned above, the castle was founded in the middle of the 13th century and initially wood was chosen as the main material for its construction. Seven years after its foundation, a stone defensive wall was added to the structure from the outside. The strengthening of the defense did not stop there and an additional wide two-meter wall appeared. It reached a height of eight meters. For strength, the castle was installed on huge boulders, on top of which bricks and stones were laid with "Viennese masonry". So that they lay tightly and the wall was solid, everything was fastened with a special solution. The walls were crenellated on top. Four massive towers were erected at once in the northern part of the castle, a corner tower appeared in the northwestern sector, and in the eastern part it was used for defense large Lidelau tower. Together with it, on the same side there was another tower with four corners, which was called "At the Grain House".

The shape of this castle did not differ from other similar buildings. Teutonic Order. It was a rectangle that stretched from west to east. Double walls and four corner towers were used to protect it. Alas, only one of them "survived" to this day. It was located in the northeastern part and was octagonal. Even its name is known Habertum(which meant Oat tower). The main architectural element of the castle could be called Schlossturm tower built in the 14th century. There, in the fortress, there was also the building of the Convention with Chapel of the Virgin Mary and refectory inside. The castle included medical buildings, a shelter for elderly soldiers - a firmaria and other buildings.

There was a well in the center of the fortress yard. During its existence, the structure of the castle was constantly undergoing changes. He became bigger, more beautiful and more powerful. By the Middle Ages, it had become big fortress. Subsequently, when he had already lost the need to perform defensive functions, various cultural values ​​​​and books were placed within the walls of the castle. It is worth highlighting the year 1525. Then the castle became the residence of the first secular ruler of Prussia. In connection with these changes, new buildings appeared in the complex, mainly administrative ones, as well as chambers for the duchess and courtiers. At that time, it was also necessary to redesign the castle, as the style became relevant. Renaissance.

Postcard with views of the castle

In 1701 passed Coronation of Frederick III. From that moment on, the castle passed into the status of the residence of the king. This status has been maintained for over 200 years. Everything changed in 1918. Then the revolutionaries overthrew the emperor William II. The fortress was reformatted into a museum in 1924. There you could see paintings and exhibits from other Prussian museums. Now we can judge many buildings of the castle only from photographs, including the shots taken in its halls.

Courtyard

Alas, we can also learn about most of the cultural values ​​that the ancient city kept only from archival records. But in Königsberg, a huge number of very valuable and even rare pieces of art were accumulated. Most of them died during the war years, the other part simply disappeared in an unknown direction, and some stocks of artifacts were redirected to storage in other cities. The Nazis, who transported large amounts of valuables in Soviet times, used Königsberg as a transshipment point. This is also why there were such stocks of cultural objects. But above all, the values ​​were accumulated due to the fact that the city housed numerous museums, research centers, libraries, and much more. All of them kept a large amount of various objects of art and science: folios, paintings, scientific instruments, you can’t count everything.

During the war years, they were also brought here rare exhibits, exported by the Nazis from Poland and the Soviet Union, as well as valuable items taken from Jews sent to camps. For a long time there was a calm atmosphere in Königsberg even during the war years. Up to 1944 the city did not fall under allied bombing raids. That is why valuables collected by the Nazis in various parts of Europe came here in a large stream. Here came the famous the Amber Room, exported from Catherine Palace. Part of it was placed in the local Royal Palace. It is still unknown where she is. gone afterwards. The search engines processed huge volumes of local soil, but did not find anything. There is an assumption that it will not be possible to find it in this way, because it had already been taken out of East Prussia before the search began. The version is also popular that the room is simply burned down.

This has its own logic, because in August 1944 the city fell under massive bombardment allied troops. Many buildings were destroyed. The castle was also seriously damaged: as a result of a strong fire, only the walls partially remained from it. At the same time, the facade was preserved, which also had to withstand the blows during the storming of the city in 1945.

But even after these trials the castle was still standing. Who would have thought that at the end of the war he had to endure even more serious tests of strength. First of all, he suffered because of the stone crusher working nearby. She prepared a brick and constantly vibrated. Largely because of this in 1952 the top of the main tower fell on the road. The tower itself held out, but only until the moment when it was accepted decision to blow it up. It's hard to believe, but the architectural creation was destroyed by 810 kilograms of TNT. This process lasted almost a month and ended on March 10, 1953.

Even after that, the castle still continued to stand, albeit partially. At the same time, the city leadership was sure that the city buildings left from Königsberg, will not recover. The chief architect of Kaliningrad sent letters to higher authorities with a request to create a center for dismantling buildings in the city. In his opinion, this center was able to receive building materials as a result of the analysis, which could be sent for work to any other point in the country. Also at that time, in the central part of Kaliningrad, work was underway to equip Leninsky Prospekt and clearing debris from the streets.

The royal castle did not give up. However, his fate was sealed after the visit of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Kosygin. He arrived in the city and expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruins in the most visible place. In response, he was informed about plans to recreate the castle and open a museum in it. The important guest did not appreciate the idea and was against the fact that there were objects in the city " Prussian militarism"As a result, the city authorities accelerated the process of restoring order and decided to demolish the castle completely, and build the House of Soviets in its place. It was supposed to become a symbol of the new Soviet era and forever erase the Prussian elements so unloved by the authorities from memory. What symbol did it eventually become House of Soviets you can see even now when you come to Kaliningrad. Not only is its architectural value scanty, but in the end it was not completed yet ... Such is the monument on the site of the castle of the 13th century.

Fortunately, some elements of this very castle still survived. Minor, those that were found during the excavations. Now the space appears to tourists in the form of an observation deck in excavation area. But even this is of particular historical value, because there are practically no such ancient castles preserved intact, especially in Russia. Therefore, it is also possible see the ruins.

Königsberg Castle now

We recommend that you go to the site on the days of the historical holidays. They are not uncommon. They are held by the administration of the museum and various clubs involved in historical reconstruction. At such events, you will see real duels of knights, you will be able to wander around the fair of artisans, watch shooting competition from ancient weapons, or even take part in them.

So even ruins of the legendary castle are worth visiting during your trip to Kaliningrad.