Hotel base
Castle Hotel **** Ryn
The construction of the castle began on the site of an earlier small stronghold on command of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Winrich von Kniprode , around 1377, intended for the seat of the convent and as a place from which attacks to the east against Lithuania could be carried out. Initially, the castle was supposed to have two wings within the rectangle of the walls measuring 44 x 52 meters: from the south-east and north-east, but soon after the construction of the first building from the south-east to the height of the ground floor and basement for the second building, construction work was discontinued. In the years 1394–1422, the castle was a seat for a short time commanders , later Teutonic vogts. After the outbreak of the Thirteen Years’ War in 1455, it was captured by peasants who protested against the abuses of the Teutonic garrisons, and then recaptured by George von Schlieben , who bloodily routed them near the castle. After 1525, the castle was the seat of the mayors of the Prussian prince. During the Swedish Deluge , in 1657, the Tatars burned the castle. At the beginning of the 19th century, the castle was privately owned. After being repurchased in 1853, it was rebuilt by the Prussian authorities as a prison . The castle burned down in 1881. After 1945, it was adapted into a cultural center, a small museum and a town hall. After 1990, the city authorities sold it to a private person who adapted it into a four-star hotel.