The story of this place
On 15 July 1410, one of medieval Europe's largest battles was fought on the fields between Grunwald and Tannenberg. The combined armies of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, under King Władysław II Jagiełło, met the Teutonic Order in a clash of tens of thousands. When the Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen was killed and his knights routed, the military power of the Order was broken forever, ending its expansion into the Baltic. The victory became a founding myth of Polish and Lithuanian nationhood, echoed centuries later — the Germans named their 1914 victory here 'Tannenberg' to avenge 1410. A monument and museum now mark the field.