Balga

The fort had been unsuccessfully besieged by the Wettin margrave Henry III of Meissen on his 1237 Prussian Crusade, but was eventually conquered in 1239 by the forces of the Teutonic Order, led by Grand Marshal Dietrich von Bernheim.

In 1499, Grand Master Friedrich von Sachsen had the Kommende dissolved, and upon the Prussian Homage, Balga was part of the Polish Duchy of Prussia in 1525, and the castle became the residence of George of Polentz, Bishop of Samland.

From 1627, parts of the castle were broken down at the behest of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during the Polish–Swedish War in order to gain building material for the construction of the star fort in Pillau (now Baltiysk), a strategically important port town occupied by the Swedes.

Following the war Balga was in the section of East Prussia allocated to the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference, and included in the area that was organized into Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian SFSR.

The area around Balga became a popular site for grave robbers and treasure hunters hoping to dig up valuables left behind by the castle's previous occupants and the German and Soviet soldiers who died in World War II.