Poland - The Land Of The Teutonic Knights - Trough Ermland And Masuria (70/151)

Poland - The Land Of The Teutonic Knights - Trough Ermland And Masuria (70/151)

Even now the huge fortress is still an impressive sight - the symbol of power and strength left in the east by the Teutonic Order: the Marienburg. From the coast the knights advanced into the land later known as East Prussia. To secure their conquests they built their fortresses far into the east. For they were constantly battling against Polish and Lithuanian armies that invaded the land. Yet in the interior, too, opposition emerged: the powerful bishops of Ermland were able to contain the power of the Order. They, too, built fortified castles and churches, which still dominate the landscape. The Order and the bishops were united in their endeavour to bring settlers to the east. The never-ending warfare and diseases constantly depopulated the land; over the centuries Poles and Germans came to settle here. In the first half of the 16th century the land of the Teutonic Knights became a secular duchy, thus paving the way for the later kingdom of Prussia. Since they were short of hard cash, the knights rewarded the leaders of their mercenary armies with large parcels of land. They formed the aristocratic class that held the peasants in varying forms of dependency. Most of the mansions and castles, which dominated the landscape of the old East Prussia, were reduced to rubble in the Second World War. Masuria was for centuries an almost impenetrable wilderness. The sandy soil provided only a meagre living for those who settled there. Thus the land of the many smaller and larger lakes has retained its unspoiled beauty up to the present day.