Furniture Collection

Furniture is one of the oldest types of objects found in the Malbork castle. In the Middle Ages, they were produced on site in a woodcarving workshop, and stored in several dozen rooms of the castle complex. The conscious creation of the furniture mobilizer’s collection began at the end of the 19th century with the scientistic restoration of the castle. Until the outbreak of World War II, there were almost 500 pieces of furniture in the castle walls, from the High Middle Ages, through Baroque, Neo-Gothic, to the first decade of the 20th century. After the war, those that have survived became the nucleus of a new furniture collection, which today comprises about 280 items. Its oldest relics include relics of the original furnishings of the castle church – a pew, and the remains of the stalls and pews of the Malbork convent made before 1344. Most of the monuments come from the early modern period. This part also includes neo-Gothic furniture, such as the furnishings of the Grand Master’s Palace from around 1831-1836, designed by Berlin architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The last group consists of furniture that are faithful copies or pastiches (imitations slightly modifying the original) of authentic monuments. They were commissioned by the castle conservator, Conrad Steinbrecht. These copies were to make the castle interiors more consistent with the forms of the Gothic architectural scheme