The Balga castle of the Teutonic Knights is located in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. In the Pogranichny municipality of Bagrationovsky District, north of Mamonovo, and about 30 kilometers southwest of Kaliningrad, are the castle ruins. Honeda, an Old Prussian or particulalrly Warmian fortification, had once stood atop Balga Hill. The 1237 Prussian Crusade of Wettin margrave Henry III of Meissen unsuccessfully besieged the fort, but Teutonic Order troops under the command of Grand Marshal Dietrich von Bernheim eventually took control of it in 1239. The Teutonic Order built Balga, the oldest Ordensburg in the area of modern-day Kaliningrad Oblast, starting in 1239 to regulate maritime traffic on the Vistula Lagoon. The Teutonic Knights defeated the Old Prussians along the coasts of Warmia and Natangia with the aid of Duke Otto I of Brunswick-Lüneburg. During the 1242 Prussian rebellion, Duke Witopek II of Pomerania declared war against the Teutonic Order due to the enslavement of these pagan peoples; nevertheless, he was ultimately forced to withdraw from the uprising. Beginning in 1250, Balga served as administrative hub of Kommende Balga and the residence of a Teutonic Knights Komtur. Many Komturs from Balga, including Winrich von Kniprode and Ulrich von Jungingen, went on to hold the highest office of Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. Balga was a part of the Prussian Duchy from 1525 to 1701 and the Prussian Kingdom from 1701; it belonged to the province of East Prussia from 1772 to 1829. Up until 1878, when it again split, the province was combined with West Prussia to form the Province of Prussia; Balga remained in East Prussia until 1945. One of the last clashes between the German Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army during World War II took place near the castle ruins as the latter army advanced during the East Prussian Offensive. The conflict severely damaged the castle ruins and the German defenders destroyed many vehicles by sinking them in the lagoon near to the ruins. Balga was included in the region that was incorporated into the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian SFSR after the war and was part of the portion of East Prussia that had been awarded to the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference. Grave robbers and treasure seekers who were looking for treasures left by World War II German and Soviet soldiers who died on the battlefield frequented the area surrounding Balga
[Information and Image Credit : Balga, Wikipedia] [Wikipedia-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balga ]
[Image: Balga ruins in their 1930s condition, before damage during World War II; Wikipedia-Image Author : Sendker]
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#Castles#History
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Monuments and Architecture
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