Zamek w Sztumie w świetle badań archeologiczno-architektonicznych z 2019 roku

In the second half of the 19th and early 20th century first scientific studies of the castle were created by German scientists. Architectural research was carried out in the 1980s, but the castle was never subject to extensive archaeological and architectural research. Over the past decades, researchers usually have tended to repeat older views. New information was brought by historians' research a few years ago. Extensive archaeological and architectural research of the castle began in 2019. They also included the analysis of test trenches made in 2018 under the supervision of Zbigniew Sawicki and Ewa Fudzińska. There functioned a view that the castle was likely built in place of an Old Prussian stronghold. Current research, however, forces us to reject it. As for the chronology of the masonry castle construction, it was associated with the first mentions of officials related Sztum (1330s). The information about the foundation of the fortalicium by Albrecht III Habsburg in 1377 instead, was associated with the addition of one of the three castle towers. However, current research has negated this interpretation. All towers were erected at the beginning of the castle construction. The dating of the archaeological material confirms that the construction of the castle began as late as in the second half of the 14th century, i.e. in connection with the foundation of 1377. The research also brought new knowledge about the spatial arrangement and construction techniques of the castle. In trenches 1 and 4–4a, the foundations of half-pillars of the defensive wall’s arcades were documented. In addition, the walls of the eastern tower and the adjacent second castle gate were unearthed (trenches 2–2a and 5a), which were built together with the perimeter wall of the complex. The layout of the slopes and moat layers was recognised (trenches Nos. 7, 11, 13 and drillings). The layouts of construction embankments were also recognised inside the castle (trenches 1–1a, 2–2a–2b, 4–4a–4b and 12). As for the internal buildings, relics of the house of grand masters have been identified in the southeastern part of the castle (trenches 1–1a, 6, 8). It was found that in the Middle Ages, the space between the southeastern outbuilding and the eastern tower was built up (trenches 2–2a). In the north presence of the medieval and early post-medieval phase of economic buildings (trench 12) was found, while in the west the existence of the building in the Middle Ages was not confirmed (trench 4–4a–4b). The relics of the west wing discovered there come from the post-medieval period.