The time of the establishment of the commandery in Pokarmin (Brandenburg) and the issue of the chronology of the erection of the local castle

Abstract

The analyses performed in the paper indicate that the construction works on the brick Teutonic Commandery Castle in Pokarmin (Brandenburg) started in the 1280s (perhaps around 1283). This coincided with the decision to make it the headquarters of the order and the seat of the commander, which took place at the end of 1283 or at the beginning of 1294. The castle was more or less finished (the main wing and the curtain wall surrounding the whole site?) in 1290. At the beginning of the 14th century (before 1306) it had two or three wings and was built on a rectangular plane. By no means was the castle in Pokarmin the first or model regular castle in the State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, which was a common assumption among scholars up until now. This issue is still being researched, but more and more information points to Papowo in the Chełmno land as the first regular (square), four‑wing commandery castle in Prussia. We are still not certain, however, if by the end of the 13th century its construction had been completed.