Poland Travel: Visiting Baltic Sea - the Town of Hel

Hel is a town located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula in the Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. Situated about 33 kilometers from the Polish mainland, Hel holds historical significance and offers various attractions.

The village of Hel, known as Gellen, was mentioned in 1198 as a hub for herring trade in the region. It gained prominence as a trade center, rivalling the nearby town of Gdańsk, and featured a church, hospital, city house, marketplaces, guest houses, and a small port. However, due to marine erosion, the peninsula started to shrink, prompting the town to be relocated to a safer area. In 1417, St. Peter's Church, dedicated to the patron saint of fishermen, was built in the town.

The town faced challenges during the 17th and 18th centuries, enduring warfare and natural disasters that caused severe damage and depopulation. In 1872, the German government, which had authority over the area, abolished the city rights granted to Hel six centuries earlier, diminishing its significance. However, the construction of a fishing harbor in 1893 revived the village, attracting visitors from Danzig and Zoppot for weekend trips. In 1896, Hel was granted the status of a seaside resort.

After World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, Hel became part of an independent Poland. The establishment of a railway in 1921 connected the town to the mainland, contributing to its development as a prominent tourist destination in Polish Pomerania. The village saw the construction of new villas for tourists, as well as a church, school, fishing institute, and geophysical observatory. Hel also became one of the main naval bases for the Polish Navy, with the harbor expanded and the peninsula declared a "Fortified Area" by the president in 1936.

During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the Hel Peninsula became a significant stronghold of Polish Army resistance. Despite overwhelming odds, Polish forces defended the area until October 2, 1939. Polish military engineers eventually separated the peninsula from the mainland by detonating torpedo warheads, turning it into an island. The Hel naval base was used by the German Kriegsmarine to train U-Boat crews during World War II. The German units in Hel surrendered on May 14, 1945, six days after Germany's capitulation, making it the last part of Polish soil to be liberated.

After the war, the village once again became a naval base. In 1960, a road linking Hel with Jastarnia on the mainland was constructed, and city rights were reintroduced three years later. The tourism industry began to recover, leading to the construction of hotels, guest houses, and pensions. In 1996, the Polish Navy sold all remaining parts of the peninsula to civilian authorities, leaving a small naval base in place. Today, the harbor primarily serves as a yacht marina, with fishing boats and ferries operating to Gdańsk, Sopot, and Gdynia during the summer. Hel features a sea life biological laboratory, exhibits showcasing naval armament and equipment, and a popular beach along the shore between the inner and outer harbor walls, where a seal sanctuary can be found.

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Poland Travel: Malbork Castle - the Largest Castle in The World

The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork (Zamek w Malborku) is a 13th-century Teutonic castle and fortress located on the Nogat River near the town of Malbork. It is recognized as the largest castle in the world based on land area and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Originally built in 1406 by the Teutonic Knights, a German Catholic religious order of crusaders, the castle was constructed as an Ordensburg fortress. Its primary purpose was to consolidate the Order's control in the region following their suppression of the Great Prussian Uprising of the Baltic tribes in 1274. The castle was named Marienburg in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In 1457, during the Thirteen Years' War, it was sold by Bohemian mercenaries to King Casimir IV of Poland and subsequently served as one of several Polish royal residences. From 1772, the castle came under German rule for over 170 years. After Germany's defeat in World War II in 1945, the land was assigned to Poland by the Allies. The castle suffered extensive damage but was renovated in the second half of the 20th century and most recently in 2016.

As no contemporary documents relating to its construction have survived, the castle's architectural phases have been deduced through the study of its architecture, the Order's administrative records, and later historical accounts. The construction work extended until around 1300. Over time, the castle was expanded to accommodate the growing number of knights and became the largest fortified Gothic building in Europe, covering nearly 21 hectares. It consists of three separate castles—the High, Middle, and Lower Castles—separated by multiple dry moats and towers. At its height, the castle housed approximately 3,000 "brothers in arms."

The castle's strategic location on the Nogat River provided easy access for barges and trading ships traveling from the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea. Under Teutonic Knights' rule, river tolls were collected from passing ships, similar to other castles along the rivers. The knights maintained a monopoly on the trade of amber.

During the summer of 1410, the castle was besieged following the Order's defeat by the armies of Władysław II Jagiełło and Vytautas the Great at the Battle of Grunwald. In 1456, facing financial difficulties due to opposition from cities under its control and the costs of its wars against the Kingdom of Poland, the Order could no longer sustain itself.

In 1466, both the castle and town became part of the Polish Malbork Voivodeship in the province of Royal Prussia. It served as a Polish royal residence for over 300 years until the Partitions of Poland in 1772. During the Thirty Years' War, Swedish forces occupied the castle in 1626 and 1629, and during the Deluge, they invaded and occupied it again from 1656 to 1660.

After the Partition of Poland in 1772, the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. At that time, the castle was used as a poorhouse and barracks for the Prussian Army. In the early 1930s, during Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the Nazis utilized the castle for annual pilgrimages of the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. The Teutonic Castle at Marienburg served as a model for the Order Castles constructed during Hitler's reign. During World War II, over half of the castle was destroyed in combat.

At the end of the war, the city of Marienburg (Malbork) and the castle became part of Poland. The castle has undergone extensive reconstruction, with restoration efforts ongoing since 1962 after a fire in 1959 caused additional damage. Notably, the main church within the castle, The Blessed Virgin Mary Church, underwent significant recent restoration, completed in April 2016. Malbork Castle remains the largest brick building in Europe.

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