International exibition „The word goes forth from Malbork... Treasures of Malbork“

 

The National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania presents this exhibition about Malbork Castle (Poland) – a gift from two museums to Vilnius and guests to the capital of Lithuania. These museums are housed in buildings carrying special historical and symbolic significance in the entire Baltic region – the Vilnius and Malbork castles. The exhibition will showcase unique treasures from the collections of the Malbork Castle Museum. 

 

The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in the Vilnius Lower Castle and Malbork Castle were and remain places and witnesses of important events in the history of the Lithuanian and Polish states. The fickle winds of history have led to both of these sites losing their initial functional purpose, however, they have preserved their symbolic meaning formed over the centuries. It was precisely the concentration of such symbolic meanings that prompted the establishment of museums at these sites. Using the museum’s collection of historical artefacts and works of art, the exhibition will unravel the history of Malbork Castle.

 

In its first stage of existence, this castle was not known for being a place that was friendly or gracious towards Lithuania, so this exhibition offers visitors the unique opportunity to look back at the past – one that was both shared and separate, seemingly closed off, yet still playing an influential role in the present. The title of the exhibition, citing the words from the Lithuanian nation’s poet Jonas Mačiulis-Maironis’ (1862–1932) poem “The word goes forth”, conjures up images of this old Teutonic Order capital and the fights for freedom, while also inviting visitors to learn about the historical circumstances behind their emergence. 

 

Understanding the activities undertaken by museums as shedding light on the past, and presenting and interpreting it based on material artefacts – historical objects, this exhibition tells of a castle that was erected in the Middle Ages by the Teutonic Order. It was a castle that, thanks to the efforts of rulers from the Jagiellon dynasty, became one of the royal residences intended for later rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A castle whose grandeur and decline was closely associated with the fate of the joint state of the Lithuanians and Poles. 

 

The history of Malbork Castle is more than just a testimony of a historical process that determined the changing state affiliations of this defensive and residential architectural object. Malbork was also a place where ideas were formed and then disseminated: for the Kingdom of Prussia, which had its capital in Berlin, it became a source of inspiration in the formation of statehood-strengthening history policy. Thus, Malbork Castle can be attributed to the first of Europe’s architectural objects that were granted the status of a legally protected monument in the early 19th century.

 

The experience accumulated while restoring Malbork Castle – both during the period of its German governance and from the more than 80 years of efforts by the Republic of Poland to reconstruct and preserve the grandeur of this site – served as an important example for Lithuania’s state institutions involved in the process of reconstructing the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.

 

All the stages of the existence of Malbork Castle are presented at the exhibition in a chronological order. Each part of the exhibition reflects the 65-year-long continuation of activities by Poland’s museum community to reveal the complicated history of this site. 

 

 

National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania

Malbork Castle Museum

Malbork Castle Museum

 

Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Lithuania, Polish Institute in Vilnius

 

Bartłomiej Butryn, Andrius Kerulis

 

Habil. dr. Janusz Trupinda, dr. Vydas Dolinskas

Agnieszka Kowalska, Monika Stankiewicz, Anna Kussowska-Sekuła, Rafał Frejnik, dr. Živilė Mikailienė, Dalius Avižinis, Gabija Tubelevičiūtė,

 

Muzeum Zamkowe w Malborku

 

Agnieszka Ruszkowska, Barbara Wabnik, Paweł Pronobis, Mantvidas Mieliauskas,

Exhibition publishing coordinators

Dr. Živilė Mikailienė, Andrius Kerulis

 

Laima Kunickytė

 

Albina Strunga

 

Karolina Malinowska, Andrius Kerulis 

 

Karolina Malinowska

 

Dr. Ramunė Šmigelskytė-Stukienė, Viktorija Liubinaitė

Tomasz Bogdanowicz, Arkadiusz Dzikowski, Tomas Manusadžianas, dr. Nelija Kostinienė

 

Mindaugas Egidijus Puidokas, Monika Petrulienė, Ignė Kielaitė, Iwona Orszulak, Małgorzata Burdzy, Paulina Konarzewska

 

Jūratė Šatūnė, Saulius Marteckas, Kęstutis Karla, Aurimas Ramelis, Tomasz Wasilewicz

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland

Draudimo bendrovė BTA

 

LRT, TVP Wilno, Savaitė, „Lietuvos rytas“, lrytas.lt, Legendos, „JCDecaux“