Mittelalterliche Häfen, Schifffahrt und Schiffer von Marienburg (Malbork)

Abstract

The analysis of the shipping activities and harbours of Marienburg leads to the conclusion that a town harbour existed here during the Middle Ages, and that it may have been connected with the fishing harbour. The source material which has come down to us confirms the assumption that there was a separate timber wharf near the town, complete with specialized personnel. The harbour of Marienburg played no more than a minor role, and was not as important a commercial centre as the harbour in Thorn, for example. The volume of cargo transhipped here was relatively small, serving, as it did, the regular needs of the residents. The ship-masters - some of them simple fishermen - lived in the town and hired their vessels out to the Teutonic Order on occasion. Independently of the town, the order also possessed its own harbour. The latter was originally located at the Chapel of St. Nicholas, directly adjacent to the oldest warehouse. It was later replaced by the harbour on the bank of the Nogat nearby the long warehouse in the outermost fortification. It is to be assumed that, alongside the harbour of the Teutonic Order, there was also a timber canal in which the order kept the material it had purchased to meet its needs. The wharfs on the canal served the Teutonic Order as a shipyard. The only surviving sources in which reference is made to the vessels on the Vistula are the inventory books of the Marienburg commandery offices. The source material on the topic of shipping and harbours in Marienburg confirms the conjecture that the existence of the river harbours was closely related to the establishment of warehouses on the riverbanks, from which mass goods were transported via waterways. Questions pertaining to the construction of the vessels of the Teutonic Order as well as the operation of the shipyard at Marienburg Castle have yet to be analyzed in detail. In that context, archaeological sources bearing a connection to the Medieval construction of inland waterway vessels in the Vistula delta may well prove particularly helpful. Taking into consideration the results of the site analysis of the town and Teutonic Order harbours in Marienburg, it appears worthwhile to undertake similar investigations into other harbour centres on the Lower Vistula as well.