Malbork is a town in northern Poland in the Zulawy region, with 41,000 inhabitants (2001), capital of Malbork County. Situated in the Pomeranian Voivodship. The city of Malbork was built around the fortress of Malbork, founded in 1274 on the right bank of the river Nogat by the Teutonic Knights and named for their patron saint, the Virgin Mary. This fortified castle became (Malbork) the seat of the Teutonic Order and Europe’s largest Gothic fortress. The river and flat terrain allowed easy access for barges a hundred kilometers from the sea.

The castle and its museum are listed as UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. It is sometimes referred to as ‘the largest heap of bricks north of the Alps’. Under continuous construction for nearly 230 years, Malbork is actually three castles nested in one another. The High, Middle and Low Castles are separated by additional dry moats and towers. It housed some 3,000 “brothers in arms”. The Low Castle walls enclose 52 acres (210,000 m2), four times the area of Windsor Castle