Marienburg (now Malbork, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland), a city (1939 pop. 27,318; 2001 pop. 41,000) on the Nogat River in West Prussia. The castle, built in 1274, was the capital of the Teutonic Knights, falling to the Poles in 1460. In the second half of the 17th century many foreigners, including Mennonites, were admitted to the castle grounds and allowed to pursue their trades there. Their competition with the citizens caused the latter to send a complaint to the king, and after decades of strife the city took the castle in lease, and the Mennonites, who had hitherto not been granted citizenship, were now made citizens. On 13 September 1772, Marienburg came again into the possession of the Prussians. It had a population of 4,575 at that time.

Beginning in the latter years of the 17th century the Mennonites held services on the castle grounds, and later in Sandhof near Marienburg in private homes. In 1906 the Heubuden congregation built a meetinghouse in Marienburg; services were held here every Sunday and church holiday, but there was no organized congregation. In 1940 there were 350 Mennonites in Marienburg. The group was dissolved when the Russians came in the spring of 1945 and the Mennonite population was evacuated westward. The meetinghouse was converted into a cinema.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 481. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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