Ryn Castle is a fourteenth-century castle located between Ryn and Ołów Lake, by Liberty Square (''Plac Wolności'') in

Ryn Ryn (german: Rhein) is a town in northeastern Poland located 19 km southwest of Giżycko, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in Masuria. Until the reorganization of 1999 it had been assigned to Suwałki Voivodeship. It had a population of ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

History

Ryn Castle is a late fortress built by the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. The fortress was built in the place of a former, smaller stronghold, as ordered by the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order

Winrich von Kniprode Winrich von Kniprode was the 22nd Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. He was the longest serving Grand Master, holding the position for 31 years (1351–1382). Winrich von Kniprode was born in 1310 in Monheim am Rhein near Cologne. He served as ...

in c. 1377, to serve as a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

and a headquarters for launching attacks against the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

to its east. In 1410, after the Teutonic defeat at the

Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris or First Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respec ...

, the castle's fortifications were dismantled, limited to one

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

building in the eastern part of the castle-complex. At the onset of the Thirteen Years' War, in 1455, the castle was occupied by local

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s, later recovered by George von Schlieben, whom massacred the peasants in front of the castle at the Battle of Ryn. Ryn1

In 1525, the castle became the residence of the Duke of Royal Prussia. During the Deluge, in 1657, the castle was burned down by

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

. By the beginning of the nineteenth-century, the castle was a private residence. After being bought back, in 1853, the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n authorities reutilised it into a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. The castle burned down in 1881. After 1945, the castle was adapted to serve as a community centre, a small museum and the municipal council. After 1990, the town authorities sold the property to a private person, that adapted it into a four-star hotel (''Hotel Zamek Ryn****'').

References

External links

Ryn Castle
(mojemazury.pl)
Ryn Castle
(zamki-gotyckie.pl)
Hotel Ryn
(zamekryn.pl) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryn Castle Castles in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship