Our holiday started in Crakow. The idea was to drive from there to Gdansk , about
600 miles to the north, visiting castles and palaces on the way.
Poland is an ideal place for castle spotters. Because of Polish history and Polish
hospitality. The Teutonic Knights were invited there to protect the Poles from foreign
invasion. Eventually the knights extended their line of castles with the intention of
controlling the Hanseatic League and the lucrative amber trade. By 1410 the Poles,
who were effectively ruled by the knights, had had enough and started a series of
battles to rid the country of the knights. In 1525 it was decided to dissolve the
Teutinic order. Thus leaving a series of castles, which can be recognised by their style
and brick construction.
Our first castle was Wawel, which is situated in the town on the banks of the river
Wisla. Wawel is a group of buildings surrounded by a wall. The main buildings are
the main castle and a cathedral, plus other buildings. This was the home of the Polish
monarchs for over 500 year, before the capital moved to Warsaw. Florentine
architects built much of the castle. The castle is now a museum but the cathedral is
still used for worship.
The following day we drove to the south east of Crakow, to Niedzika which is close
to the Slovakian boarder. The castle is built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the river.
Recently a hydroelectric dam has been built and the castle is now on the banks of a
lake. There are fears that the water could undermine the rock and cause problems for
the castle. It was built in the 14th century and rebuilt in the renaissance style in the
early 1600.
The next day we left Crakow and aimed for Czestochowa. On the way we stopped at
Pieskow Skala. The castle was built in the 14th century and later rebuilt in the
renaissance style. This is a well-preserved castle, with a museum of art and European
tapestry. There is also a restaurant in one of the towers with tables on the roof.
We arrived in Czestochowa in the middle of the afternoon and checked in to the hotel
at the foot of the hill that leads up to Jasna Gora (Bright Mountain) This is not a castle
but a fortified monastery, which houses the most religious icon for the polish people,
the Black Madonna. This is the centre of pilgrimage for Poles and guidebooks have
pictures of the crowds, which cover the hill when the Pope visits.
On to Warsaw for a few days. On the way we stopped off at Nieborow. There has
been a palace here since the 16th century, but it’s main claim to fame started in 1774
when it was purchased by the Radziwill family. It remained in the family up to the
end of the 2nd world war The house is now owned by the national museum in Warsaw
and has a magnificent interior with original furnishings and paintings. The gardens are
well cared for and a few miles away is Arcadia Park which also belongs to the house.
This was a most pleasant break in the journey.
There is only one castle in Warsaw, but not far from the centre are two palaces. The
closest is in Lazienski Park and the other is in Wilanow about half an hour by bus.
The Royal Castle is close to the old town and like many places in Poland was almost
totally destroyed during the 2nd world war. And like many buildings (including the old
town square) has been rebuilt to its former glory. The castle is 17th century and the
rebuild was completed in 1974. It now contains a museum. Tapestries and paintings
are the main items but one room contains a history of the building and like many of
the other places in Warsaw, there is great emphasis on the destruction by the
occupying forces and the rebuilding after the war.
A similar display can be found in Lazienski Palace. The building was taken over by
the German officers during the war and was comprehensively destroyed by them
when they withdrew at the end of the war. The palace is set across a lake in the
middle of a park and attracts large numbers of people. At the entrance to the park is a
monument to Chopin and on Sundays there are concerts of his music in the
Amphitheatre, which is on the same lake. The Palace was bought by King Stanislaw
Augustus in the mid 1700’s and he transformed this hunting ground into an English
style park. The palace was built a few years later. This trip was taken in the summer,
but we had been to the park the previous year in March. At that time it was snowing
and we had an enjoyable time watching children feeding the birds and squirrels who
would venture out and take food from the children’s hands. In the summer the animals
find food for themselves so are not quite so obvious, although we did see a
woodpecker feeding it’s chick who was nesting in a hole in a tree.
Wilanow, which is called the Polish Versailles, also suffered at the hand of the Nazis.
It was purchased by King Sobieski in 1677 when it was a manor house and he spent
the next twenty years turning it into a palace. The Palace now belongs to the state and
is mainly a museum tracing the history of Polands royal families.
Our original plan had been to move on to Torun, the birthplace of Nicolaus
Copernicus and one of the best preserved Hanseatic trading centres, which boasts
some of the most impressive ruins of a Teutonic castle. Unfortunately, our plans had
to be changes and after three days in Warsaw we headed directly north to the place
that was the main reason for our holiday, Malbork castle.
On the way we stopped at Niedzika. Non of the guidebooks that we had mentioned
this small town, about 3 hours drive from Warsaw. But I knew about the existence of
a castle because of my hobby, which is building castles from card. (More on this
later). With a little help from some local people we were able to find the castle. It is
quite small and appeared to me to have become a meeting place for the locals who
fancied a drink in the bar which was situated in one of the rooms of the castle. With
no guide books available at the castle I know non of its history, but there is no
mistaking the design and building materials which shows that it is yet another
Teutonic castle. I left here feeling a little sad, because it seems to have been missed by
people interested in castles and now appears to be the ultimate in “Theme pubs”.
Anyway, we left Niedzika full of expectation for our next destination, we were not to
be disappointed! Another of my model castles is Malbork, my wife liked the look of
the castle so much that she said she was interested in visiting it. After consulting with
a Polish tour company in London and finding out that we could stay in the castle, we
immediately started making plans for the holiday.
It is almost impossible to describe Malbork. Saying that it the biggest Teutonic castle
in Europe and one of the UNESCO heritage sites, does not do justice to this amazing
place. The castle is situated by the river Vistula and started life in the middle of the
13th century as a monastry. Further expansion took place and following the expulsion
of the knights from Palestine, they finally moved to Malbork in 1309 and made it their
headquarters. Further building took place, but in the middle of the 15th century when
the Polish people started to rebel against the knights oppression, the castle was
eventually taken over and used as the seat of Polish government. The castle fell into
disrepair and by 1772 was being used as barracks for the army of Frederick II. The
building also became the source for building material for local builders. Things got
worse but in 1804 under the pressure of public opinion, renovation work was begun.
Much of the early building was completely lost, but old documents were found and
preservation and redecoration continued. But the recurring thread of this journey, the
2nd world war, played a big part in the castles history. During this time many of the
treasures went missing, although much of it had been sent to Canada before the war.
Towards the end of the war, the castle was almost totally destroyed. At this time the
German troops were using the castle for its original purpose and the Russian armies
almost destroyed the castle in their attempt to rid the country of the enemy.
Immediately after the war Poland set up a commission to preserve the castle. The first
steps were to stabilise what was there and then to start on its renovation. Work has
continued and although about 50% of the building was destroyed during the war, the
castle is back to its pre-war condition. The restoration work has been carried out so
well that it is quite difficult to see where the original meets the new. The most
obvious difference is that the patterns built into the original castle are missing in some
of the new parts.
We stayed in the hotel, which is part of the original castle buildings, and after dinner
we were able to walk round the outside of the castle. It’s impossible to describe the
size but it will leave a lasting impression on us.
Our holiday ended in Gdansk, which is about an hours drive from Malbork. No more
castles here but a lovely city to visit.
Card Models
I have mentioned what started us off on this tour and I’d like to expand on my hobby.
Poland and the Czech republic have a history of producing card models, there are
many reasons why this hobby established it’s self here. For many years the plastic
models of the west and Japan would have been too expensive for most people.
Thankfully for people like me the companies who publish these models continue to
bring out new kits and have improved the printing and paper quality over the years.
A company called GPM produce a series of books, they contain the pages of the kit
and the construction instructions. There is also a history of the subject. Unfortunately
the pages are in Polish so I have to rely on guidebooks for the history.
Building these kits is a matter of cutting out the various pieces, folding them to shape
and gluing them together. It sounds quite simple but, in the case of Malbork, there are
hundreds of pieces and the final model took over 150 hours to complete. GPM make
kits of many castles and the models were the incentive for the holiday and now act as
an unusual reminder of an interesting holiday.
GPM have their own web site at www.gpm.pl. Their kits can be found in most shops
that sell card models, and the best place to start looking is to use your favourite search
engine and type in card models.
Card makes an ideal medium for architectural models and there are many other
publishers, especially in Germany and France who create kits of their countries
mansions and castles.
Good browsing
Mike Stamper