Tombstones of the masters and members of the German Order

Tombstones are the subject of biographical, epigraphic, heraldic and weaponry studies and, to a lesser extent, literary-historical ones.

Burial of the dead in sacred places was a common practice since the early Middle Ages, despite repeated prohibitions by the Church. It was an expression of a special communion between the living and the dead. Tombstones, i.e. works of stone, metal or wood, worked in sculpture, served to preserve the memory of the deceased. Grave markers usually marked the burial place and often also formed the lid of the burial chamber in the form of a grave slab.

Although the Christianization of Prussia began at the end of the 10th century, the oldest example of a Christian tomb found here dates back to the end of the 12th to the first decade of the 13th century. It is a granite tomb slab decorated with a cross, which was discovered during excavations on the site of the first church of St. Nicholas in Danzig, which was given to the Dominicans in 1227. And if this slab with a cross can be dated to the beginning of the period in question, then, depending on the criteria adopted, the end can fall at the beginning of the Reformation.

Medieval tombs in Prussia were examined in inventories and various catalogues of art monuments, such as the works on the architectural and artistic monuments of East and West Prussia by A. Bötticher and B. Schmid, in individual descriptions of cities and buildings, in reports on the conservation of monuments and archaeological sites, as well as in general and regional studies on the history of art and architecture in the region. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the most important groups of funerary monuments were scientifically processed, especially the monuments in Danzig, Thorn, Frauenburg and Königsberg, as well as in Marienburg. 

The main problem when working with such a group of monuments is the question of the relationship between what is known today and what existed originally. Tombstones were and remain particularly susceptible to destruction. Both images and inscriptions on the gravestones have always been erased by visitors to the church. The progression of the destruction of these tombstones can be seen if one compares, for example, the graphic documentation of the tombstones of the Dominican Church and the Church of St. Mary in Danzig, compiled at the end of the 19th century, with their current state, where almost no inscriptions or coats of arms have been preserved. However, the condition of many monuments was far from satisfactory even in the mid-19th century, as evidenced by the tombstones of the cathedral in Marienwerder, which were inserted into the walls of the naves and choir during restoration work in the 1960s.

Another reason for the destruction of gravestones was the custom, which had been practised for a long time – especially in modern times – of using the same grave by different generations. Already in the Middle Ages, this led to the addition of new inscriptions and new images to old gravestones. An example is the Danzig gravestone of an unknown couple, which was used by the merchants' guild to cover a joint grave in the church of St. Mary.

Tombstones were often misused, in some cases even as altar stones. There were probably also cases of the opposite. A gravestone covered with small crosses and kept in the church of St. John in Danzig was interpreted as an altar stone. If this is indeed the case, and the stone was part of a medieval altar stone, then the change in function certainly occurred after the Reformation.

The practice of breaking up gravestones into small pieces to be used as floor or paving slabs in or in front of churches, which was still practised in the early 20th century, had far worse consequences.

In 1239, Grand Master Hermann von Salza died in Salerno (Italy). The nearest order house was Barletta, where the master was buried in the chapel of St. Thomas. To this day, neither the exact burial place of the master nor his tombstone have been preserved. There is no exact information about the location of the chapel in which the master was buried. According to one version, the chapel and the order house were outside the city and have not survived to this day, as has the burial place of the master.

According to another, this is the modern church of St. Augustine. During the reconstruction and restoration of the church in the mid-18th century, its rector Fatebenfratelli ordered the use of ancient gravestones, rich in inscriptions and noble coats of arms, to pave the square in front of the church. Thus, it is possible that one of the slabs on the pavement in front of the church is the tombstone of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Hermann von Salza.

In Kulmsee, small parts of the tombstone of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Siegfried von Feuchtwangen were used as steps between the nave and the transept. It also happened that tombstones were used as raw material for burning lime. This is how the monuments from the Church of St. Nicholas in Elbing were lost – they were sold after the devastating fire of 1777 (Fuchs, 1821). A similar fate befell some tombstones from the cathedral in Königsberg a little later. Mayor Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel, after consulting with the state ministry, ordered the “duty-free sale” of damaged tombstones that no longer had an owner (Hagen, 1833).

In addition, structural alterations and restorations carried out in the sacred buildings in question in modern and contemporary times have contributed to the reduction in the number of medieval gravestones. The extent of the losses can be judged, for example, by comparing the lists of gravestones in the church of St. Mary in Thorn from the beginning of the 18th century and the end of the 19th century (Semrau, 1892). A rare and particularly valuable source for research is the floor plan of the church of St. Mary in Danzig from the 18th century, which shows the location of individual graves, as well as several lists of gravestones (Steinbucher) from the same church (APG 300/MP 1235a; Sign. 10/354/0/342, 343. 34).

In most cases, however, it is almost impossible to trace changes in church tombs. Written sources concerning Oliwa indicate that there were Gothic tombstones there. However, due to several catastrophes that befell the church – a great fire in 1350, an attack by the Hussites in 1433, and the sack of soldiers in the service of the city of Danzig in 1577, which had rebelled against the Polish king Stefan Batory – not a single medieval tombstone has survived in Oliwa.

The changes to the floor of Frauenburg Cathedral are relatively well documented (Dittrich, 1913;1916). The original 14th-century brick floor was repaired in 1480. In 1666, stone tiles were laid in the presbytery and in 1673 in the nave. Presumably, a large number of tombstones were moved around during this time. However, it is known, not least from wills, that canons were usually buried next to their altars. In the 17th century, it was decided that the large number of epitaphs and tombstones threatened the "stability of the building". As a result, in 1682 the cathedral chapter decreed that new epitaphs could only be placed in the cathedral with the consent of the bishop. From 1720, the cathedral clergy were buried in the common crypt. In 1860-1861, when new floor tiles were laid by the Wehrhan company from Neuss, most of the gravestones were placed in the places where benches were later installed. Despite the great care taken, several of the slabs broke into so many pieces that, according to the masons, they were no longer suitable for use and were therefore used for burning lime. The floor was later repaired in 1923, and in 1982, due to the installation of central heating, some of the gravestones had to be re-laid.

The number of tombstones decreased, not least due to the events of the Second World War, with the result that six of the seven known Gothic tombstones in Elbing were lost.  Almost all of the tombstones in the Königsberg Cathedral were lost during the destruction of the cathedral during the war and the following years.

Until recently, the fastening of gravestones to church walls was a common method of protecting the images on the slabs from deterioration. The preferred method of preserving monuments is to reinstall the restored gravestones in the floor, often not in their original location but in a position determined by the interior architect. The lapidary of the church of St. Matthaus in Preußisch Stargard or the two Danzig churches of St. John and St. Peter and Paul are examples of such a procedure. The usefulness of such procedures can be highly questionable, since the panels are now again subject to periodic treading by parishioners.

Tombstones of members of the Teutonic Order

Before the construction of the chapel of St. Anne in Marienburg, the order had no permanent burial place for its members in Prussia. Thus the landmasters were buried in various churches in Prussia, and for this reason the final resting place of most of them is unknown. In all likelihood, an attempt was made in the earliest period to create a central necropolis for the landmasters in the cathedral at Kulmsee. Although a common burial vault was created for the masters in the residence, they were nevertheless also buried in other places. In other cases, of which only fragmentary information is available, and almost exclusively in relation to the castles of the commandries located in cities, the brothers were usually buried in parish churches over which the order had patronage rights, or in hospital churches. 

Grand Masters

Most of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order found their final resting place in the cathedral churches of Prussia. The cathedral in Kulmsee, Marienwerder and Königsberg were the final resting places of the Order's supreme leaders.

On March 5, 1311, the Grand Master of the Order, Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, died in Marienburg. In 1309, he had moved the capital of the Order from Venice to Marienburg and was therefore the first Master of the Order to die in Prussia. However, he was not buried in the new capital, but in one of the oldest cathedrals in Prussia, the cathedral of the Kulm bishopric – the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Kulmsee. “In that year (1311), on the third nona of March, Brother Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, Grand Master of the Order of the Teutonic House, died in the chapter house in Marienburg and was buried in Kulmensee, in the cathedral church” (SRP 1, 176) 

The exact location of his burial in the cathedral is unknown, but fragments of the master's tombstone have survived to this day and are used as steps to the chapel of Blessed Jutta of Sangerhausen (c. 1200 - 1260), the patron saint of Prussia, who was also buried in the Kulmsee Cathedral. Presumably, Master von Feuchtwangen was buried next to Blessed Jutta in the right nave of the cathedral.

Siegfried von Feuchtwangen's successor, Karl von Trier, was forced to leave Prussia due to internal conflicts and spent the last years of his leadership of the Order in the Empire. In 1324, he found his final resting place in the Order chapel in his home town of Trier (Niess, 1992).

The next Master, Werner von Orseln, who was killed in Marienburg on November 18, 1330, was buried in the cathedral in Marienwerder - "When the body of the Master was, with tears and sobs, reverently and solemnly, as was fitting, buried in Marienwerder in the cathedral church..." (SRP 5, 611). This was probably due to the need to quickly stop speculation after the murder committed by Brother Johann von Endorf, which was shocking for the Order itself and negative for its image and reputation. 

Master Luther von Braunschweig, who contributed to the construction of the cathedral and bequeathed it to be buried there, was buried in the cathedral on Kneiphof. The exact location of his burial is unknown. Researcher Konrad Steinbrecht suggests that the master, as the founder of the cathedral, was originally buried behind the altar in the presbytery (Steinbrecht, 1916). His burial place was covered with a tombstone made of Gotland limestone. In the early 1830s, the tombstone of Master Luther was discovered near the epitaph of Chancellor Johann von Kospoth. The lower part of the tombstone was missing, the Gothic letters had worn off over time, but thanks to plaster casts, the text on it was restored.

FRATER . LUThERVS . FILIUS. DUCIs / . DE . BRUNKSWIK . MAGISTER. GENERALIS . HOSPITALIS SANCTE / (MARIE · DOMUS . ThEUTONICOR . PREFU) / IT . ANNIS . III . OBIIT . ANNO . DOMINI . MCCC XXXV . XIII . KAL . MAII .

Brother Luther, son of the Duke of Brunswick, Grand Master of the Hospital of the Most Holy (Mary of the Teutonic Order) for 4 years, died in the year of the Lord 1335, 14th Kalends of May.

However, already then (1830s) in the southern wall of the high choir of the cathedral there was a niche with the allegedly buried remains of the Grand Master. In this niche was located the recumbent figure of Luther von Braunschweig. Presumably, the figure was created in the 16th century by a Königsberg master. The figure of the Master was made of linden and painted - a red tunic and a pillbox cap, a blue pillow and a white order cloak with a black cross. The arms and legs were missing, which were created in Marienburg and added during the restoration at the beginning of the 20th century.

In the niche there was an epitaph, at first in simple font, then replaced with Gothic:

My Conductor, Our Conductor, Our Cathedral Temple, Our Lutheran Cathedral, Our Braunsvicensis

Magistri Gener(alis) Ord(inis) Teut(onici) Mortui MCCCXXXV

Here are buried the bones of the founder of the cathedral, Luther, Duke of Brunswick, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, who died in 1335.

After restoration, a tombstone of the Samland bishop Henry II Kuwal appeared in the wall next to the niche.

Henry II Kubal (Kubal) was Bishop of the Sambian diocese from 1386 to 1395. He died on August 28, 1397 and was buried in the high choir of the Königsberg Cathedral. Most of the bishops of Samland were buried in the cathedral, but only the tombstone of Bishop Kubal has survived (conditionally). The Latin inscription on his tombstone read:

 

Ter . lege . C . priority . M . supra . XC volvito. September / Augustin . festo . cubal . obitus . memor . That's it. octavi sambe . presulis . ecclesia

Count a hundred three times, first a thousand, then ninety, add another seven, on the feast of Augustine remember the death of the eighth primate of the Church of Sambia.

 

There were two images on his tombstone. According to one version, it is the bishop in his youth and old age, according to another, it is the tombstone of two bishops at once - Heinrich II Kubala and his successor Heinrich III Seefeld. The tombstone was located near the wall of the destroyed cathedral until the early 1990s. Currently, it is presumably in the collections of the KOIHM.

But the main necropolis was the Chapel of St. Anne in the castle of Marienburg. There were buried 10 Grand Masters. However, it is not known whether all of them were honored with gravestones. Only the gravestones of Dietrich von Altenburg, Heinrich Dusemer and Heinrich von Plauen have survived to this day.

The rhymed majuscule inscription on the tombstone of Dietrich von Altenburg, similar to that of Luther von Braunschweig, reads:

+ DO . UNSERS . hEREN . XPI . IAR . WAS . M . D/RI . C . XLI . GAR . DO . STARB . D . MEIST . SINE. RICH . VON . ALDENBURC . BRUDER / DITERICH . hIE . LEGIN. DIE . MEISTER / BEGRAB. DER . VON . ALDENBURC . hAT . ANGEHABEN . AMEN .

The year of our Lord Christ was 1341. Master von Aldenburg, brother of Dietrich, died. Here lie the masters from Aldenburg onwards. Amen.

Steinbrecht suggests that the author of the text on the slab could have been the brother chaplain and order chronicler Nikolai von Eroschin, author of the rhymed "Chronicle of the Prussian Land" (Steinbrecht, 92). At the same time, the text contains a reference to the successors of the master. And it can be assumed that the tomb of Dietrich von Altenburg was created at least after the death of Heinrich Dusemer, 12 years later, since he is individually honored on the tombstone (von Quast, 1851).

It is not known for sure whether this is a symbolic tomb or a gravestone. The same doubts apply to the slab of Heinrich von Plauen. The gravestone of Dietrich von Altenburg, located between the graves of Dusemer and Plauen, covers a deep cavity, presumably a collective burial of the Grand Masters buried in Marienburg. For example, the bishops of Pomesanie (Marienwerder Cathedral) and Kulm (Kulmsee Cathedral) were also buried in collective tombs. The circumstances of the burials in the chapel of St. Anne are not exactly known. Unfortunately, there is insufficient evidence of the changes to the original state that have occurred here both in modern times and especially during the restoration work of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Even their original placement in the chapel and whether there were actually graves under the gravestones of Plauen and Dusemer are unknown.

Grand Master Ludolf König resigned from his position in 1345 due to prolonged depression and mental illness. He received the position of commander in Engelsburg, where he died in 1348. He was buried in Marienwerder, in the crypt of the cathedral. Currently, a tombstone hangs in the presbytery of the cathedral, which researchers have identified as Ludolf König's. The Latin inscription around the perimeter of the slab and in the cross reads:

(Creator. omnium. rerum. deus. qui.) me. d[e] . limo . terre . plasmas. et . mi[r]abiliter e[t] . p[ro]p[ri]o . sa[n]gvine . redemisti . corpus . q[ue] . meu[m] . licet . modo . putrescat . (from . sepulchre . facies) . in . the judiciaries. resuscita[r]i . et . ad . dext[r]a . colloca[r]i . et . live . fili . dei . mis . mei

Lord, Creator of all things, who created me from the dust of the earth and miraculously redeemed me with Your Blood, grant that my body, created in Your Image, will rise from the grave on the Day of Judgment and again be clothed in flesh and come to life. Son of God, have mercy on me.

The next Master, Heinrich Dusemer, also resigned his position at the end of 1351 due to deteriorating health. In 1352, he moved to Bratiaan Castle, where he died in 1353. He was buried in the burial vault of the Grand Masters in the Chapel of St. Anne of Marienburg Castle. As mentioned above, his tombstone has been preserved in the chapel. The rectangular slab with the image of the deceased standing in a pointed arch with a mascaron was originally considered to be the slab of Master Winrich von Kniprode (Voigt, 1824). The Master is dressed in a mantle with a cross on his left shoulder. The right hand of the deceased is placed on his heart, and the left supports a shield with a cross and a sword placed behind it. The face is framed by lush, slightly wavy hair and a trimmed beard. In the upper corners above the arch are the outlines of a pair of angels. Above are illegible remains of a minuscule inscription. Around the perimeter is a rhymed inscription in majuscule:

(DO) UNSERS hERR IAR WAS . LOVF M (… / …) C LDR I ICZ · / V hOUF BEGRABEN WART ALhIE / DI LICH DES [Hoemeister Hinerich]

Our Lord was in the year 1 (353). Here is buried the body (of Grand Master Henry). 

The illegible outlines of the image of the deceased and the angels, as well as the inscription, were noted by Voigt and then Witt (Voigt, 1824; Witt, 1854). The first conservation work was carried out in 1821-1824. In 1885, the missing corners were filled in with cement patches. The slab was again badly damaged in 1945 when the vault of the chapel collapsed. As a result, the image on the slab is almost completely damaged and illegible.

The subsequent Masters of the Order, from Winrich von Kniprode to Ulrich von Jungingen, who died in the Battle of Grunwald, were buried in the Chapel of St. Anne. However, no tombstones, epitaphs or other material evidence of their burials have been preserved there. 

The fresco on the western wall of the Chapel of St. Anne can be considered a depiction of the events of the Battle of Grunwald. Work on it was begun by Heinrich Schaper and it was completed after his death by Friedrich Schwarting in 1914. The painting was dedicated to the knights of the Order who fell in the Battle of Grunwald - the patron saint of European chivalry, St. George, handed over the Teutonic dignitaries, led by Master Ulrich von Jungingen, to the care of Mary and the Child.

Next to the wall with the fresco, in the role of a cenotaph for the fallen knights, there was a copy of the effigy of Master Conrad von Thuringen, installed during the restoration at the beginning of the 20th century.

The effigy of Grand Master Conrad von Thuringen is located in the Church of St. Elizabeth in Marburg, where he was buried in 1240. The Grand Master is depicted in the vestments of the Order with a whip in his right hand, which symbolizes spiritual rebirth and an act of repentance. At his feet are two coats of arms - the Order's cross and Conrad's personal coat of arms, the "Thuringian lion".

 

Since no lifetime images of his predecessors as Master survive, Conrad von Thuringen's tombstone is the earliest portrait of one of the Masters of the Order.

The third tombstone, currently located in the Chapel of St. Anne, belongs to Master Heinrich von Plauen. The savior of the Order and defender of Marienburg, he became Master in 1410, but was then removed from office and resigned as Master in 1414. From 1414 to 1424, the former Master von Plauen was imprisoned, after which he spent his last years in Lochstedt Castle. The Master died in 1429. But this is where things get interesting. Excavations carried out in 2006-2008 in the crypt of the Marienwerder Cathedral revealed that the third Master buried there was Heinrich von Plauen (Grupa/Kozłowski, 2009). At the same time, von Plauen's tombstone was located in the Chapel of St. Anne, at least since the 19th century. It is not known exactly whether it was in the chapel since the 15th century or was moved there later from the crypt of the Marienwerder Cathedral. 

Von Plauen slab with losses and cracks, in the four corners there were round rosettes with metal appliqués, possibly with symbols of the evangelists, an inscription in minuscule Gothic script.

In . der . Iar · / czal . xpi . M . cccc . xxix . do . starp . der / erwi(rdige] / . bruder (…) heinrich . van . plawen .

In 1429, brother Heinrich von Plauen died.

The three subsequent masters, Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg, Paul von Rusdorf and Conrad von Erlichshausen, were also buried in the chapel of St. Anne. The latter's cousin, Ludwig von Erlichshausen, as a master, left Marienburg, which had been pawned to mercenaries during the Thirteen Years' War, and moved to Königsberg, where he died in 1467. The master was buried in the crypt of the Königsberg Cathedral, located under the high choir.

The next four masters were also buried in the crypt of the Königsberg Cathedral. Not a single tombstone from these burials has survived, and probably never existed. 

The crypt was located under the high choir of the cathedral. The crypt had five chambers with fairly low vaults. The northernmost chamber was walled up forever in 1809. According to legend, it contains the remains of the Grand Masters Erlichshausen, Reuss von Plauen, Richtenberg, Wetzhausen, Tieffen, as well as five offspring from the first marriage of Duke Albrecht, Duchess Dorothea, Duke Albrecht himself, Duchess Anna Maria, two sons of Duke Albrecht Friedrich who died as children, Countess Elizabeth of Brandenburg, wife of Margrave Georg Friedrich, and a blind-born daughter, Elizabeth, from Duke Albrecht's second marriage. The coffins date from 1467-1596 and are unlikely to have been preserved in good condition. Presumably, during the French occupation, they were plundered and were in such a state of disrepair that it was decided to wall them up to hide them forever from prying eyes. In the middle crypt, directly under the epitaph of Duke Albrecht, was a large tin coffin containing the remains of Margrave John Sigismund of Brandenburg, son of Elector John George. He died as ruler of the Duchy of Cleves in 1640 and was transferred here and buried in the Königsberg Cathedral in 1642 (Dethlefsen, 1912). After the restoration of the cathedral in the early 20th century, this coffin was displayed in the lower choir and the crypt was finally closed.

Among the tombstones and epitaphs of the high choir were life-size figurative portraits of six masters who lived in Königsberg: Ludwig von Erlichshausen, Heinrich Reuss von Plauen, Heinrich Reffle von Richtenbertg, Martin Truchses von Wetzhausen, Johann von Tieffen and Friedrich of Saxony. The drawings were made before 1595, since at that time Hennenberg commissioned Caspar Felbinger to make woodcuts from them, which he included in his work on the history of Prussia.

The assumption that each painting was always commissioned by the immediate successor to the post is probably incorrect. At least the first five so clearly betray the same hand that it is impossible to explain this relationship by the style of different artists alone. Even by repainting alone, as Leshin did in 1833 during the restoration of the cathedral, this similarity was not introduced into the paintings, which were originally of different character. It remains only to assume that all these five paintings were commissioned at once by the Grand Master, the Duke of Saxony. The image of the Duke himself, certainly the most important in the series, is a good work, belonging to the Wittenberg school, created under Albrecht of Prussia. It is noteworthy that only this Duke is depicted with a raised sword. The lowered sword of his predecessors signified their dependence on Poland. Friedrich did not give this feudal oath, and therefore the raised sword fell to him.

The penultimate Master of the Order, Friedrich of Saxony, was not a member of the Order before his election; in 1498, the Order's embassy offered him the position of Master. In 1507, he left Prussia and moved to Europe in order to find allies and help in the fight against Poland. In 1510, he died in Rochlitz and was buried in Meissen Cathedral. His tombstone in the princely chapel of Meissen Cathedral has survived to this day. Although his figure and facial features are somewhat idealized, the image is generally similar to known lifetime images of the Master.

Several images of Master Friedrich of Saxony are known. One lifetime portrait of the Master was located on the northern wall of the high choir of the Königsberg Cathedral, surrounded by other portraits of the "Königsberg Masters". Below and to the left hung a portrait of Ludwig von Erlishausen.

 

This portrait was taken as a basis by the engraver Caspar Felbinger, who created portraits of the masters for the book of Hennenberg (1595). In general, having completely repeated the details - the pose, the shield-cartouche, the sword, the headdress and the helmet - for some reason he added a moustache to the beardless Friedrich. But in the book of Hartknoch of 1684, the portrait of Friedrich is already completely fictitious, although it is clearly copied from the work of Felbinger.

 

Another lifetime image of the master is a chamber portrait, or more precisely a copy, by Cranach the Younger from a lost Saxon portrait. The image of the master's appearance practically repeats the Königsberg portrait. The surviving copy was created after the death of the master in 1578-1580.

Landmeisters, Grand Administrators and other Order dignitaries

The necropolis of the Order dignitaries was probably created in the Kulmsee Cathedral, which is confirmed by a document of the Grand Master Michael Küchmeister from 1419. He established a lamp with an eternal flame in the cathedral, burning for the repose of the souls of the brothers buried there. The fire was to burn in the Chapel of St. John, where the knights of the Order were buried (UBC 1 411-2). It is not known where this chapel could have been located; some suggest that it was a crypt (Mroczko, 1980).

In 1263, Landmeister Helmerich von Würzburg, who died in battle with the Natangs, was buried in Kulmsee, as was Ludwig von Schippen in 1300 (SRP 1 102, 165; Dorna, 2012). The remains of the tombstone of another Prussian Landmeister, Konrad Sack, who died in 1308, were found in the Kulmsee Cathedral and described by Ferdinand von Quast (von Quast, 1850). By the end of the 19th century, the tombstone had disappeared, but the barely legible inscription on the remains of the slab read (Schmid, 1935):

… EODSI . R…BIIT . FRAT … CVN … SACCVS . PRECEPTOR . P…

Little is known about the burials of the brothers who held the positions of great administrators. These positions included: Grand Marshal, Grand Commander, Grand Hospitaller, Grand Intendant and Treasurer.

It is known that of the Grand Marshals, only Siegfried von Danfeld died in office and of natural causes in 1360: "Then Brother Siegfried, the Marshal, who greatly exalted the Order, a man of great determination, piety and noble life, ended his days on St. George's Day" (SRP 2 523-4). His burial place is not indicated, but it can be assumed that it was one of the churches in Königsberg, which was the Marshal's residence.

The next Marshal, Henning Schindekopf, fell in the Battle of Rudau in 1370, having received a mortal wound to the face with a spear. The Marshal died on the way to Königsberg, in the Quednau area, near the Matzkalen tavern. According to one version,  he was buried in the Quednau church. In fact, the Marshal was buried in the Church of Maria Magdalena, which was located behind the Königsberg Castle (Stein, 1730; Bötticher, 1897). At the beginning of the 18th century, the remains of a man with a medallion-amulet containing the letters B and X were found there - presumably "Brother Henning". However, researchers date it to at least 100 years after Schindekopf's death (Vossberg, 1843).

 

In the Battle of Rudau, according to the chronicles, in addition to Marshal Schindekopf, 26 brothers of the Order fell. Among them were the Commander of Brandenburg Kuno von Hattenstein, the Hauskomtur of Brandenburg Heinrich von Stockheim and the Commander of Reden Petzold von Corwitz. Their burial place is unknown. One of the guest knights of the Order, Arnold von Lorech, also died in the battle.

And another marshal who fell on the battlefield, Friedrich von Wallenrod, who died in the Battle of Grunwald. His burial place is unknown. Some of those who died in the battle were buried on the battlefield, some in Osterode, and some of the identified ones, along with the master, were taken to Marienburg and buried in the castle.

There is no information about the burials and tombstones of the brothers who held the position of Supreme Intendant (and Commander of Christburg concurrently). There is also no information about the brothers who held the position of Treasurer. However, two brothers are known to have died in these positions: Albrecht von Schwarzburg and Thomas von Merheim, who died in the Battle of Grunwald.

In the lower castle of Marienburg, in the church of St. Laurentius, the knight brother Dietrich von Logendorf, a diplomat and adviser to the master, was buried. He died in 1424.   The inscription in minuscule on his heraldic tombstone reads:

In . der . I'm talking to you. / M . CCCC . III   xx verestarb . der . hervirdige / . under stress. Diherich . van . / logendorff + ritter   hi   begraben . bitten . got . vor . en +

In the year of our Lord 1424, the magnificent and strict knight Dietrich von Logendorf died. Please pray for him.

His heraldic tombstone in the church wall survives to this day (Dobry, 2005).

It is known that in most cases, brothers from the commanderies were usually buried in city parish churches, over which the Order had patronage rights, or in the churches of hospitals and monasteries. At the same time, these could also be churches of other monastic orders. On the other hand, it is not known exactly where brothers from castles located outside the city areas were buried after death.

Medieval sources also provide a detailed look at the burial site of the Order brothers from Thorn Castle. According to a document issued on 14 October 1346, Grand Master Heinrich Dusemer endowed the parish church in Old Thorn with three surrounding villages. The parish priest and cleric were, among other things, obliged to pray for the numerous Teutonic brothers buried in this church (PUB 4, 75). The burials there were probably created between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries, while the Order house existed there, later moving to Thorn (Jasiński, 1981).

In a document from 12 September 1415, Grand Master Michael Küchmeister expresses his consent to the merger of the Benedictine monastery with the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Thorn. There is information that the latter had long been a burial place for the brothers of the Order (UBC 1, 490). A document from Bishop Jan Margenau of Kulm from 17 November 1451 has been received, on the basis of which he presented Andreas, chaplain of the commander of Thorn, with a new vicar in the Church of the Holy Spirit in this city (APT, Kat. I, nr 1293). This clergyman was probably supposed to conduct a service for the Order brothers from Thorn Castle, buried in this church.

There is information from 1413 that the Teutonic brothers were also buried in the Augustinian monastery in Chojnice (Observationes nonnullae…, 1910).

The Commander of Danzig, David von Kammerstein, who died in 1321, was buried in front of the entrance to the chapter hall of the Cistercian monastery in Oliwa (Kronika oliwska, p. 93). Later, the Order used the chapel in the choir of the Dominican monastery in Danzig as a burial place for the brothers of the Order. By a letter dated 27 July 1446, Prior Heinrich Münbecke, Pauwel Kruse, Hermann Trippenmacher and other brothers of the Dominican monastery of St. Nicholas in Danzig granted permission to a secular priest, at the request of Master Konrad von Erlichshausen, to celebrate daily masses for the brothers of the Order in their traditional burial place, the chapel of the Dominican monastery (GStA PK, XX. HA, Perg.-Urkk., Schieblade LIV, Nr. 23a). As early as the beginning of the summer of 1446, the Order official in charge of customs duties and taxes in Danzig (Pfundmeister) Winrich von Manstedt  instituted a mass for the repose of the deceased brothers of the Order, celebrated at the altar in the burial chapel. Von Manstedt also instituted a position for a lay priest, for whom he determined an annual salary of 9 marks. On July 10, Master Conrad von Erlichshausen approved this institution and agreed with the Dominicans that a morning mass would be celebrated in the chapel daily by a secular priest and 4 times a year a vigil and morning mass by the Dominicans. In a letter dated July 27, 1446, the Dominicans, at the request of the Grand Master, pledged to provide a priest who would celebrate mass every morning in the chapel, in the choir of the monastery church, where the burial vault of the brothers was located. In 1466 the chapel came under the control of the Brotherhood of St. Christopher of the Court of Arthur in Danzig. The heraldic tombstone of the unknown Kaspar von Wulfstein, who died on 13 December 1425, has been preserved to this day and is located in the floor of the Dominican church (Engel/Hanstein, 1893).

In front of the altar of the parish church of St. Bartholomew in Preußisch-Holland there was a tombstone of the commander of Preußisch-Holland (Stein, 1730). The lost tombstone dates back to the end of the 15th – beginning of the 16th centuries, when the Pflegerdom of Preußisch-Holland became a commandery.

The slab of Gunther von Hohenstein, Komtur of Brandenburg, who died in 1380, was located in the parish church of Brandenburg. The quite legible inscription in minuscule read:

+ xpi . tciii . iar . vnd . lx . vorw / ar . Maria . magdalenen . tag . g…nth d be / tot . lach . by . hoensteyn . d . m / I don't know what to do . mein . bilde . seh . uf . hohi . begr / abe . got . myse . dy . select . h / aben .

The Order chronicler Nikolai von Eroshin, who wrote his chronicle in the first half of the 14th century, mentions one knight brother, Heinrich von Bondorf, who died in 1330 during the siege of the fortress in Wyszogród  and was buried in the Cistercian monastery in Kulm (SRP I, s.618).

It has been assumed that ordinary members of the Order were buried in or near the castle forenburgs. This incorrect assumption was based on five tombstones found in the outer forenburg of Danzig Castle, three of them without any decoration and two decorated with a cross (Azzola, 1992; Dobry, 2005). However, similar finds are absent from other castles and this assumption is not supported by archaeological research. At the same time, the area of ​​the eastern parchment of the high castle of Marienburg, south of the chapel of St. Anne, was used as a cemetery during the Order period (Dobry, 2005; Józwiak/Trupinda, 2007).

Burials of foreigners and guests of the Order in Prussia

Of the many cathedrals and churches in Prussia, the Königsberg Cathedral was an important necropolis, where mainly secular guests of the Order – participants of expeditions to Lithuania – were buried. According to Detlefsen, three incomplete gravestones, originally with metal inserts, in the lower choir of the Königsberg Cathedral were the tombstones of knights of the Order. However, it cannot be ruled out that these were guests of the Order who died during the campaigns against the Lithuanians or died in Prussia.

The Flemish diplomat and traveller Gilbert de Lannoy saw in 1413 in Königsberg "coats of arms ... from the time of the Prussian voyages" (de Lannoy, 1840). He probably refers to the heraldic memorial shields, or heraldic tablets, hung by the guests of the Order in memory of the campaign, of which nothing has survived to this day.

Memorial tablets hung in memory of the guests of the Order buried in the cathedral sometimes figure in English heraldic trials of the late 14th century. Thus, from 1386 to 1389 in England, a heraldic trial was held between Richard Scroop and Robert Grosvenor. The reason was that they used the same coat of arms. During the trial, more than four hundred witnesses were heard, including Geoffrey Chaucer. Nine knights testified in favor of Scroop that during their travels to Prussia they saw a tombstone heraldic tablet with the image of Scroop's coat of arms in the Königsberg Cathedral. The fact is that a relative of Richard Scroop, Sir Geoffrey Scroop of Masham, was buried in the cathedral. He died during another order campaign in 1363 during the siege of Welun or Pisten (here the evidence differs). Statement by knight Henry de Ferrers, 19 October 1386:
"The said Sir Geoffrey was in Prussia in a tunic of arms and in Lithuania under the castle called Piskré he died and his body was brought back to Prussia and was buried in this same tunic in the cathedral of Königsberg and his arms were set up on a tablet before the altar."
The court eventually found in favour of Scroope and King Richard II confirmed the decision in 1390.
In the case of Grey v. Hastings of 1401-1410, Sir Thomas Erpingham testified that during his visit to Prussia with the Earl of Derby in 1390, he had seen the arms of Sir Hugh Hastings in the cathedral of Königsberg.

Professor Paravicini, in his work on the history of the Lithuanian campaigns, lists several guests of the Order buried in Königsberg. Among them are the French knight Jacques de Neuville, the squire Hans von Skelingen from Austria and the squire Gerard de Bourbon-Lancy, who died in February-March 1344, as well as the noble servant of Jean de Blois Philippe Willemsz, who died in February 1364. The knight Sir John Lowdham drowned in August 1390 while crossing the Viliya, was taken to Königsberg and buried there (Paravicini, 1995). 

On the southern wall of the so-called secular church of the Königsberg Cathedral were three memorial shields of the captains of the Order's mercenaries who died during the "war of the horsemen" of 1519-1521. The epitaph shields belonged to Sigmund von Siechau, Philipp von Grevling and Moritz Knoebl. The descendants of the latter lived near Lyk at the beginning of the 20th century.

It seems that the burial of the Order's dignitaries in city churches was a deliberate move to integrate the brothers into the local communities. The tombstones of knights buried in churches functioned alongside the locals and were a visual testament to their presence in the area, even though they were immigrants and an alien element. In every way, and especially given the deliberate form and ideological program of the images and inscriptions preserved on them, they also served as a kind of propaganda.

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