Exhibition Słońsk – Station 6:
The panel depicts the history of the Order of St John since its foundation in the 11th century, focusing on events in the Oder-Warthe Region.
The Order of St John was founded in Jerusalem in 1099. As a hospitaller order, it provided nursing care for pilgrims, but also became increasingly warlike during the Crusades.
The Ballei Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John was first mentioned as “balie van der Marken” at the beginning of the 14th century. At the same time, the Order of the Temple, another knightly order, was dissolved. The Knights of St John took over some commanderies from the Templar estate and continued to manage them.
From around 1460, Sonnenburg became the seat of the Lord Master and the Bailiwick of Brandenburg separated economically from the main Order, today’s Order of Malta, which has its headquarters in Malta or, since 1834, in Rome. In the course of the Reformation, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg became Protestant, while the Order of Malta remained Catholic.
The Oder-Warthe region, which had been severely devastated by the Swedes during the Thirty Years’ War, was significantly rebuilt by the Order of St John under Johann Moritz of Nassau-Siegen. With the draining of the Warthebruch from 1767 onwards, the Knights of St John opened up new settlement areas and founded numerous new villages.
In 1811, Prussia claimed the lands as a result of secularisation. However, the Order bought back the Sonnenburg Castle in 1855.
During the First and Second World Wars, the Order distinguished itself through its main task, the care of the sick. Some knights of the Order actively supported the resistance. Count von Hardenberg was one of the masterminds of the Hitler assassination attempt on 20 June 1944 from his Neuhardenberg Castle. After 1945, the areas east of the Oder became Polish.
The castle was abandoned and burnt down in 1975. On the German side, the Order concentrated on Johanniter Unfallhilfe, hospitals and social stations. Through German-Polish cooperation, the castle ruins could be revived for tourism.
