This form of the Teutonic Order castle was imported from Prussia and largely stemmed from the need for “fortified convents” that would be easy to defend and where the brethren's domicile would be as compact as possible.

[6] At the beginning of the 15th century Cēsis Castle and Komturei came under the direct rule of the Order's supreme commander in Livonia, becoming part of the-so-called Livonian Master's district.

After the Polish-Swedish War Cēsis Castle came under the rule of Sweden and it was handed over to Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna.

[17] In 1830s, the owner of Cēsis Castle estate Count Karl Gustav von Sievers ordered “the damp spot by the ruins” to be transformed into a spacious landscape park.

The park served as a promenade and pleasure-ground not only for the von Sievers family and their guests but also for the patients of the water-cure establishment that Karl Gustav opened in 1841.

After the war the newly-founded state of Latvia expropriated the largest part of Cēsis Castle manor from the Count von Sievers’ family.

The manor house was placed at the disposal of the Army of Latvia but the ruins of the castle were granted on lease to the Town Council of Cēsis.

[20][21] During the regime of Kārlis Ulmanis in the canon of national values there was no place for medieval castles, which were regarded as a symbol of German rule.

[22] However, in spite of the calls “to remove the old piles of stone from the hills of our fatherland[23]”, Cēsis municipality did not withdraw its care for the centuries-old castle.

The castle walls remind us that united the Latvian people are invincible.”[24] The official attitude of the Soviet occupation regime towards medieval heritage was thoroughly negative.

In 1950s large-scale repair works were undertaken while the castle's former outer bailey acquired a peculiar function: it served as a sports ground of local trade school.

Moreover, the administration of the trade school planned large-scale renovation of the sports ground that entailed the building of stands with 600 spectator seats, a tennis court, a swimming pool and a shooting range.

The future priorities are no longer related to large-scale excavations in the castle but rather to adequate preservation and research of the obtained archaeological material and elaboration of publications.

[28] (1) During the first half of the 13th century, a stone chapel and chapter-house, together with other buildings (presumably constructed out of timber), were built on the site of the current castle by the Brothers of the Sword.

Situated in the eastern corner of the convent castle, a chapel with Romanesque corbels is one of few surviving parts of this earliest phase of construction.

(2) In the late 14th century Teutonic Knights begun the transformation of the building into a convent-type castle with four ranges grouped round a quadrangle providing all the functional facilities needed by militant religious community – chapel, refectory, dormitories, chapter-house, kitchen and services.

[29] At the same time the room on the first floor of the west tower – the Master's Chamber – was lavishly decorated with impressive brick vault and painted plasterwork.

In the story, the castle plays a central role as the backdrop to a fictionalized account of the death of Wenno, the first Master of the Livonian Knights, a historical event still much debated in medieval studies.

[31] The main site of interest in the castle – the Western Tower – lures the visitors not only with the Master's Chamber, but also with the possibility to get a bird's eye view of the surroundings.

Throughout the summer season there are artisan workshops located in the outer bailey of the castle where bone and antler craftsman, woodturner, blacksmith and printmaker work.