Balga

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This article is about a castle. For the suburb of Perth, see Balga, Western Australia.

Balga (Russian: замок Бальга; Polish: Bałga) was a medieval castle of the Teutonic Knights. Its ruins are located near the village of Vesyoloye in Bagrationovsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia; 30 km southwest of Kaliningrad.

The oldest Ordensburg constructed by the Teutonic Order in the region of the present-day Kaliningrad Oblast, Balga was built in 1239 to control naval traffic on the Vistula Lagoon. With the assistance of Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the crusaders defeated the Old Prussians along the coastline. The subjugation of these pagans led Duke Świętopełk II of Pomerania to declare war against the Order, although he was forced to acquiesce.[1]

A large administrative territory in Prussia was also named Komturei Balga, and was a komturship of the Teutonic Order.

Balga was also the name of the town in the area of the castle. Balga was in the former state of East Prussia, Germany, and was the site of one of the final battles with advancing Soviet forces towards the end of World War II.

[edit] Reference

  1. ^ Eric Christiansen. The Northern Crusades. Penguin Books. London, 1997. ISBN 0-14-026653-4

This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of June 8, 2006.


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