earby the village of Bobrowniki, probably already in the first half of the 14th century, there was an unknown wooden castle, as evidenced by documents issued here by Duke of Dobrzyce and Łęczyca Władysław Siemowitowic called Garbacz (+1351/52). Several cards signed in this location have survived to the present day, which may indicate that around 1340-60, Bobrowniki housed the administrative centre of the region. So, presumably the castle, a customs and a river crossing belonged geopolitically to the most important points on the map of the duchy.
VIEW OF THE CASTLE FROM THE WEST
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t is likely that after the death of Władysław Garbacz, the castle came under the rule of
Casimir the Great (+1370), who planned to hand it over to Kaźko Słupski (+1377), the king's grandson and would-be successor. However, this did not happen, because the Polish throne was taken by
Nagy Lajos (Luis of Hungary) (+1382), who in 1377 granted Dobrzyń Land and the castle in Bobrowniki to Duke Władysław Opolczyk (+1401). In 1391, Opolczyk, who run a policy against Poland, pledged Dobrzyń Land to Teutonic Order. The transaction led to the armed intervention of Polish army and to the siege of the castle, which failed. At that time the stronghold already had some brick fortifications, but its layout remains unknown to us.
VIEW OF THE CASTLE FROM THE WEST
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he Teutonic Knights organized at the castle a local administration, and probably expanded it, maybe even erected new fortifications based on the old ones. Stay of the Germans turned out to be beneficial for Bobrowniki, because during the reign of the mayor Gottfried von Hotzfeld it was given a status of a town and from that moment on it functioned as Stadt Beberen (but only for a short time). However, not reconciled with the loss of these lands,
Władysław Jagiełlło strove to regain them. He succeeded in doing so in 1405, when, on the basis of peace treaty signed in Raciążek, Dobrzyń land returned to the Polish Kingdom. The castle was designated then as the seat of the royal starosts, and the first to be appointed to the office was Warcislaw Gotartowic.
THIS USED TO BE THE ENTRANCE TO THE CASTLE
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nly four years later, the Order invaded surrounding towns and fortresses, including the Bobrowniki stronghold. Situation of the besieged crew was still being saved by the archbishop of Gniezno, Mikołaj Kurowski, who, after negotiating a truce one day, promised to provide support in the number of fifty soldiers. However, due to the passive attitude of duke of Mazovia and bishop of Plock, he was not able to realize his undertaking and the castle fell after being damaged by heavy Teutonic artillery. The decision to capitulate met with disapproval of Władysław Jagiełło, who, ordered to place the starost and other commanders in a prison of
Chęciny castle. However, all of them were soon released, and they wiped out their disgrace by fighting in the fields of Grunwald.
CASTLE IN 1627, DRAWING BY ABRAHAM BOOT
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fter the Teutonic Knights took over the castle, which happened on 28th August 1409, Boemund Brendel led a repair of damaged walls. However, Bobrowniki belonged to the Order only until 1411, when, on the basis of the peace treaty, it returned to Poland. Poles modernized the castle, as a result of which it received an additional, external walls, fortified foregates and corner towers adapted to use firearms. Despite those expensive investments, Bobrowniki didn't play any military role for the next two centuries, serving primarily as a seat of a starost and a place where town courts were held.
WATERCOLOR BY NAPOLEON ORDA, BEFORE 1883
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n the second half of the 15th century borders of the Polish Kingdom have changed, thus depriving the castle of its strategic importance. The loss of basic military functions and negligence in the current maintenance led to a significant deterioration in castle's technical condition, as evidenced by note from the mid-16th century that there is not even a bridge to the castle. Although the starost Michał Działyński (+1576) undertook some renovation works here, the scope was not large and their effects did not stop a wall degradation for long. In 1616 Michał Działyński (+1618), the nephew of the aforementioned Michał, renovated internal buildings and put ramparts protecting the castle from flooding by the river.
THE VISTULA RIVER NEAR THE CASTLE
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n the 1620s, the castle no longer had a roof and part of the outer walls, which is shown in a drawing made in 1627 by Abraham Boot (see picture above). In 1629 the stronghold was in such a bad condition that only servants lived there, while the starost resided in the village. The urgent need to repair of the administration headquarters was reflected in a resolution of the Sejm, by whose decision it was to be rebuilt at the expense of citizens (1641). However, the repair did not take place, and the Swedes contributed to the final collapse of the castle by burning it in 1656.
WOJCIECH GERSON "BOBROWNIKI CASTLE RUINS ON VISTULA RIVER", 2ND HALF OF THE XIXTH CENTURY
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hortly after the Swedish army left Poland, some minor repairs were made to walls and roofs, thanks to which the building was still inhabited and used for some time. In the absence of adequate financial resources, its poor technical condition continued to worsen and in 1765 it is described as standing only partially, and partially collapsed. In 1776, the chancellery was moved to Lipno, thus closed the nearly 400-year-old history of the castle, which from then on was only a deserted ruin. At the beginning of the 19th century, some of fortifications and castle edifices were demolished to retrieve building material. Shortly after, the Vistula river flooded the surrounding fields, cutting off the road to ruins, which from then until the 1980s was an island. The first archaeological research was carried out here in the 1970s, and a decade later the walls were secured and partially reconstructed.
he castle is situated on a hill, in the immediate vicinity of the Vistula river. Its exterior walls and bases of the residential buildings are made of stone, and the interior walls and the tower - of brick. The older part of the stronghold had a square plan with a side of 46.5 meters and was surrounded by 3.5 meters thick wall. A residential house measuring 15x46 meters, covered the entire length of the west curtain. It was a three-storey building, with a line interior arrangement and a gable roof with triangular tops to the north and south. At basement level its interior consisted of three rooms and probably this division was also repeated on upper floors.
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE XV CENTURY CASTLE ACCORDING TO JAN SALM, VIEW FROM THE NORTH
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n the northern side, the residential house was adjacent with a gate tower, built on a rectangular plan with sides of 10.5x11.5 meters, with two narrow gates and a gateway about 3 meters wide. The dominant element of the castle was the main tower erected in the eastern corner of the courtyard, square at the bottom, circular above. Internal layout of the fortress was complemented by a narrow brick building located along the southern wall, between the tower and a western house, as well as wooden economic buildings concentrated in the eastern part of the courtyard.
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE XV CENTURY CASTLE ACCORDING TO J. SŁAWIŃSKI, VIEW FROM THE SOUTH
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fter 1410, the castle was surrounded by a second line of walls, erected at a distance of 12 metres from older fortifications. Thus formed an inter-wall area, closed from the north-west by a gate neck connecting the older gate tower with a new foregate. Two or four small towers, which were adapted to the use of firearms, stood at the corners of the outer wall. The castle was surrounded by a moat fed by the waters of Vistula river. Subsequent changes had no nore military character. It is likely that in the 16th century new office buildings were erected, causing the courtyard to shrink in size.
PLAN AND VIEW OF THE CASTLE RUINS: 1. INNER WALL, 2. WESTERN RESIDENTIAL BUILDING, 3. GATE TOWER,
4. MAIN TOWER, 5. SOUTHERN BUILDING, 6. OUTER WALL, 7. BUTTRESS, 8. INTER-WALL, 9. GATE NECK, 10. CORNER TOWERS
he present form of the ruins is a result of far-reaching reconstruction from the mid-eighties. It included lowering the courtyard to its historical level, discovering ground floors, debris removal, as well as restoration of the castle fortifications. Conservation work allowed to preserve the historical structure and expose the characteristic elements of the castle in its traditional form.
VIEW OF THE RUINS FROM THE WEST, IN THE PHOTO BELOW A FRAGMENT OF A PARTIALLY RECONSTRUCTED BUTTRESS
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owever, more than three decades have passed since the reconstruction of the castle ruins, which can unfortunately be observed from wall cavities in the walls and numerous debris as a natural consequence of their rapid erosion. What is very evident here is the lack of a host to ensure the removal of volunteer bushes and the regular cleaning
of trash from the castle grounds. Since 2017 the owner of the castle is the Municipality of Bobrowniki.
REMAINS OF THE MAIN TOWER
Free admission
We can visit the castle together with our dog.
The zone may be reserved. Its availability can be checked in the DroneRadar app.
RECONSTRUCTED CURTAIN WALLS
THE RUIN LOOKS DEVOID OF ANY CARE (2019)
GETTING THERE
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obrowniki is located about 17 km north of Włocławek, on the opposite side of the Vistula river. The ruins stand right next to the river, to the west of the village (destination: Zamkowa Street).
You can park your car in front of the castle.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. T. Graff: Kościół w Polsce wobec konfliktu z zakonem krzyżackim..., Księgarnia Akademicka 2010
2. L. Kajzer, J. Salm, S. Kołodziejski: Leksykon zamków w Polsce, Arkady 2001
3. M. Krysiński, M. Trochonowicz: Zamek w Bobrownikach - problematyka techniczna..., 2013
4. S. Szybkowski: Elita ziemi dobrzyńskiej na przełomie XIV i XV wieku..., Średniowiecze Polskie... 3 (7) 2011
5. A. Wagner: Murowane budowle obronne w Polsce X-XVIIw., Bellona 2019
Castles nearby:
Raciążek - ruins of bishops' castle from the 14th century, 17 km
Wloclawek - relics of bishops' castle from the 14th century, currently a palace, 20 km
