The Amber Castle is located on Sovetskaya street (former Hauptstrasse). Its walls are built of massive boulders, just like the Kazan Church. The castle houses an interesting Museum dedicated to the medieval period of the history of East Prussia.
Since the 17th century, this place has been a small hunting castle, which was built by order of the Prussian king. The castle was built from the boulders of the Teutonic order fortress in Germau. In 1703, the castle was reconstructed by order of king Frederick I. He placed here the Coast guard, which was engaged in protecting the coast and mines, as well as controlling the production of amber. Over time, the castle became very dilapidated.
Everything changed when the castle was purchased by Maurice Becker, the main shareholder of the company that conducted industrial mining of amber in the city. He completely reconstructed the Amber castle. In fact, a new castle-hotel was built on the site of the former one, but using the same boulders of the Germau fortress.
Maurice Becker was able to settle the important guests who came to Palmnicken, now Yantarny village. In 1998, the castle opened a Museum, which was named "Amber castle". Visitors enter the fireplace room, where they are greeted by the atmosphere of a medieval castle of the 15th century. It looks very natural. Given the name “Amber”, it is logical that most of the exhibitions are dedicated to amber and the history of its production in Palmnicken.
In the basement, you can see the instruments of torture used by the Catholic Inquisition. There are weapons and armor of the knights of the Teutonic order. Upstairs, you can see old furniture, dishes, and applied art. Here is a smaller copy of the Amber Pyramid, which can be seen at the Amber quarry. The fireplace room has an interesting collection of old beer mugs.
