Malbork in the context of "Siege of Marienburg (1410)"

The Nogat is a 62 kilometres (39 mi) long delta branch of the Vistula River in northern Poland. Unlike the main river, it does not empty into Gdańsk Bay, but rather into the Vistula Lagoon.

The Nogat has its origin near the village of Biała Góra as a distributary of the Vistula River. Shortly afterwards, the river Liwa flows into the Nogat. The river then passes Malbork and flows north-east towards Elbląg (but does not reach the city). North-west of Elbląg, the Nogat flows into the south-western part of the Vistula Lagoon.

The Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, also known as the Great Teutonic War, occurred between 1409 and 1411 between the Teutonic Knights and the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war began with a Teutonic invasion of Poland in August 1409. As neither side was ready for a full-scale war, Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia brokered a nine-month truce.

After the truce expired in June 1410, the military-religious monks were decisively defeated in the Battle of Grunwald, one of the largest battles in medieval Europe. Most of the Teutonic leadership was killed or taken prisoner. Although they were defeated, the Teutonic Knights withstood the siege on their capital in Marienburg (Malbork) and suffered only minimal territorial losses in the Peace of Thorn (1411). Territorial disputes lasted until the Peace of Melno of 1422.

The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, commonly known as Malbork Castle (Polish: Zamek w Malborku; German: Ordensburg Marienburg), is a Brick Gothic castle complex located in the town of Malbork, Poland, built in the 13th and significantly expanded in the 14th century. It is the largest castle in the world measured by land area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It was constructed by the Teutonic Order, a German Catholic religious order of crusaders, in the form of an Ordensburg fortress and named Marienburg in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. In 1457, during the Thirteen Years' War, the castle was sold by Bohemian mercenaries to King Casimir IV of Poland in lieu of indemnities. It then served as one of several Polish royal residences and the seat of Polish offices and institutions, interrupted by several years of Swedish occupation, fulfilling this function until the First Partition of Poland in 1772. From then on, the castle was under German rule for over 170 years until 1945, albeit largely falling into disrepair as military technological advances rendered the castle a mere historical point of interest.