"You think we all live in castles. And we do all live in castles. We've got a castle each. We're up to here with fucking castles. We just long for a bungalow..." - Eddie Izzard, describing Americans' views on Europe.



On Thursday we visited the medieval castle of Malbork (a.k.a. Marienburg), an hour's train ride south of Gdansk. Sick and tired of reading about all these castles on our blog? Here's a short version of the main ones we've seen on this trip:

Neuschwanstein - Built by a wistful king as a playground, meant to evoke romance and fantasy.

Prague - Used for centuries as a royal court, meant to evoke majesty and grandeur.

Malbork - Built by an order of Crusading medieval knights, meant to evoke power and strength.



For those interested in the long version, Malbork is essentially a military fortress built at the end of the 13th century. The focus on war shows, more so than at any of the other castles we visited. Towers, drawbridges, huge moats, and elaborate gatehouses dominate the architecture.

Paradoxically, in addition to being a seat of military violence, it was also a place of fervent religiosity. The knights were actually also monks, and the castle was fully equipped with a church, cloisters, and chapterhouse.



Of course, the castle was also a living space, with all the necessary amenities. This little demon on the right was meant to act as a signpost, to help the occupants find one such amenity. The halfmoon on which he sits betrays that it's a sign for a bathroom, and he tugs his little beard so that it points you in the right direction. The wings mean you better hurry, cause it's still a little ways down the hall.

After visiting the castle, we met up with my cousin Emilia who had driven over to meet us. We had dinner, as well as a good time catching up.