Ladies and Gentlemen

A foundation has been recently established whose aim is to raise funds necessary to reconstruct the statue of Our Lady, the Patroness and Protector of the town and the castle, named after Her Marienburg, thus restoring the glory of the eastern façade of the castle after its destruction in 1945. We intend to revive the last missing and, at the same time, most splendid feature of the castle which reveals itself to those arriving from the east and raising their eyes looking up to see the tall ogival and still vacant recess in the façade of the castle Church of Our Lady, waiting for over sixty years for the return of its Patroness.

The eight-metre statue standing in the deep recess, its height exceeding both neighbouring windows of the church, glimmering in the sun rays with a sumptuous array of colours of a medieval mosaic, reminded one of a precious gem. Bound indivisibly with architecture, embedded. as it were in the façade of the High Castle, that monumental figure of Madonna has always been connected with the history of Malbork. For centuries, the serene figure of Our Lady gazing in the distance, with a crown and sceptre standing high above, in what seems almost celestial setting, appeared to travellers as a heavenly sign. Dramatically thrown down this majestic pedestal the statue collapsed in January 1945 along with the church walls, and has yet not been raised from ruin although a few decades have lapsed.

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