Schaaken Castle in Nekrasovo

After the Teutonic Order conquered Sambia in 1244–1256, the Prussian castle Zoke with adjoining territories fell under its control. In 1258, the area was divided by treaty with the bishop of Sambia. The bishop’s castle was situated 6 km away from Schaaken. According to Order chroniclers, the castle was erected around 1270 on the site of a Prussian stronghold, during the time of the Prussian uprising. The castle became the residence of the Landvogt and protected the coast.

After Prussia had been conquered at the end of the 13th century, the Order had another foe, the Litvins, with whom its holdings bordered at that period of time. Schaaken and the nearby bishop’s castle, at that point, served as defense against them. Probably such a strategic location influenced the shape of fortifications.

By that time the tradition of building castles, from commanders’ residences to small fortifications, had already formed, they were usually rectangular castles with one to four wings and high defensive walls. Schaaken was an exception, with an almost circular perimeter, as was the nearby bishop’s castle.

From 1331 this castle was a centre of the Kammeramt, a chamberlain’s residence which administered the territory around Sambia, and from 1398 it was part of the Königsberg commandery. At that time the information about several brothers who held the post of pfleger came to light. The castle was secularized in 1525. Later the castle was the seat of the Zamland Land Office.

The history of the castle also left its trace in the Petr the Greattime. Schaaken is mentioned as one of the points of the Great Embassy of 1697. Later, in 1711, 1712, and 1717, Peter the Great together with Catherine II stayed there for several times on their way to Memel.

Until 1871 the castle was the king’s and later the emperor’s domain. After the revolution in 1918, Schaaken was nationalised and rented out. The castle had not been damaged during the World War IIand until 1948 it had been used as an orphanage for German orphans. Following the repatriation of the German inhabitants to Germany and the settlement of the area by Soviet immigrants, a collective farm was established there. As the castle and its walls were not repaired, the living quarters soon fell into disrepair. Refugees from neighbouring countries had lived temporarily in the annex in front of the chateau since the early 1990s. The chateau has been privately owned since 2002 and tours have been organised there. The castle was handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2011.

Tags: castles and fortresses, 16 century