ABSTRACT
The castle at Malbork began to be constructed by the Teutonic Order as the fortified monastery of Marienburg from the 1270s; between 1309 and 1457 it was the headquarters of the Order in Prussia. During this time the castle expanded significantly and became sub-divided into three sectors, covering an area of around 20 hectares. Subsequent phases of Polish, Prussian and German occupation modified and restored various elements of the structure. From 1945 its restoration was supervised by Polish conservators and in 1997 it was added to the UNESCO list of world heritage sites. Today, the castle is preserved as the most important example of the Teutonic Order’s distinctive architecture in Eastern Europe, and remains a major focus of historical, archaeological, architectural and art-historical research, as well as a showcase for the evolution of modern approaches to conservation and restoration. The maintenance of a castle the size of Malbork – the largest fortified brick structure in the world – required significant and complex provisioning networks. Written sources from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries illustrate the sheer diversity of animal management and animal-related products which were processed for and within the castle. 1 However, the long-term impact of the castle’s construction and expansion on the animal resources of its hinterland is also a question with a fundamental archaeological perspective.
