Ostróda Castle

Ostróda, Poland, Poland

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Ostróda Castle in Ostróda, northern Poland's Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, is a well-preserved 14th-century Teutonic Order fortress built from 1349 to around 1380 on a square plan measuring 45x45 meters at the Drwęca River's mouth into Lake Drwęckie.

Originally constructed without towers—rare for the era—by commander Günther von Hohenstein as a commandry seat guarding trade routes, it featured four wings around a courtyard with cloisters, vaulted Gothic interiors including a chapel and chapter house, economic facilities like breweries and granaries, and a moat separating it from town walls.

Damaged by Lithuanian raids in 1381, Polish assaults in the 15th century, and World War II fires, it later served as a starosty residence, prison, and granary before postwar reconstruction into a museum and cultural center.