CASTLE OF KOSTRZYŃ/ODRA RIVER

The castle in Kostrzyn on the Oder (Lubuskie Province) dates back to the late Middle Ages. The first references to the castle in Kostrzyn come from the 20s of the 14th century, but there are many indications that the building was erected much earlier. However, there is no clear source or archaeological evidence. The building performed important military functions, located at the confluence of the Warta and Odra rivers. Around 1450, the castle fell into the hands of Brandenburg margraves. In the first half of the 16th century, however, it was transformed from a strictly military facility into a Renaissance-style seat, the external facades of which were covered with decorative paintings, but still retaining considerable defensive values. In 1600, the castle received the fourth wing. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the building still played an important military role, being already (from 1701) within the borders of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1903, a monument to Frederick William I of the Hohenzollern family was erected in the courtyard. The facility survived World War I, but the next World War turned out to be deadly for him - in 1945 the castle, along with almost the entire city of Kostrzyn, was wiped off the face of the earth, and its ruins were blown up and dismantled in the 1960s. Until now, only the ruins of the floors and the ground floor of the castle have survived