Brandenburg

Brandenburg on the Vistula Lagoon grew around a castle of the Teutonic Order, founded in 1266 by Margrave Otto of Brandenburg. The fortress stood near the mouth of the Frisching, between Balga and Königsberg, and became the seat of an Order commandery. Its brick buildings and tower guarded a strategic shore during the conquest of Prussia. A settlement developed beside the castle, whose position on the lagoon linked it to the waterways leading toward Königsberg and the Baltic.