Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem ( Official names : , ) , commonly the Teutonic Order ( Today : German Order = " Deutscher Orden " , also " Deutschherrenorden " or " Deutschritterorden " ) , is a German medieval military order , and became in modern times a purely religious Catholic order . It was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals . Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights , since they also served as a crusading military order in the Middle Ages . The military membership was always small , with volunteers and mercenaries augmenting the force as needed . Overview . Formed at the end of the 12th century in Acre , in the Levant , the medieval Order played an important role in Outremer , controlling the port tolls of Acre . After Christian forces were defeated in the Middle East , the Order moved to Transylvania in 1211 to help defend the South - Eastern borders of the Kingdom of Hungary against the Kipchaks . The Knights were expelled by force of arms by king Andrew II of Hungary in 1225 , after allegedly attempting to place themselves under Papal instead of the original Hungarian sovereignty . In 1230 , following the Golden Bull of Rimini , Grand Master Hermann von Salza and Duke Konrad I of Masovia launched the Prussian Crusade , a joint invasion of Prussia intended to Christianize the Baltic Old Prussians . The Knights had quickly taken steps against their Polish hosts and with the Emperor ' s support had changed the status of Chełmno Land ( also Ziemia Chelminska or Kulmerland ) , where they were invited by the Polish prince into their own property . Starting from Chełmno Land the Order created the independent Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights adding continuously the conquered Prussian ' s territory , and subsequently conquered Livonia . The Kings of Poland accused the Order of holding lands rightfully theirs , specifically Chełmno Land and the Polish Kingdom ' s lands conquered later , such as Pomerelia ( also Pomorze Gdańskie or Pomerania ) , Kujawy , Dobrzyń Land etc . . The Order lost its main purpose in Europe with the Christianization of Lithuania . The Order initiated numerous campaigns against its Christian neighbours , the Kingdom of Poland , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , and the Novgorod Republic ( after assimilating the Livonian Order ) . The Teutonic Knights had a strong economic base , hired mercenaries from throughout Europe to augment their feudal levies , and became a naval power in the Baltic Sea . In 1410 , a Polish - Lithuanian army decisively defeated the Order and broke its military power at the Battle of Grunwald ( Tannenberg ) . In 1515 , Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I made a marriage alliance with Sigismund I of Poland - Lithuania . Thereafter the Empire did not support the Order against Poland . In 1525 , Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg resigned and converted to Lutheranism , becoming Duke of Prussia as a vassal of Poland . Soon after , the Order lost Livonia and its holdings in the Protestant areas of Germany . The Order kept its considerable holdings in Catholic areas of Germany until 1809 , when Napoleon Bonaparte ordered its dissolution and the Order lost its last secular holdings . The Order continued to exist as a charitable and ceremonial body . It was outlawed by Adolf Hitler in 1938 but re - established in 1945 . Today it operates primarily with charitable aims in Central Europe . The Knights wore white surcoat s with a black cross . A cross pattée was sometimes used as their coat of arms ; this image was later used for military decoration and insignia by the Kingdom of Prussia and Germany as the Iron Cross and Pour le Mérite . The motto of the Order was : " Helfen , Wehren , Heilen " ( " Help , Defend , Heal " ) . Names . The officially used full name of the Order in German is " Orden der Brüder vom Deutschen Haus St . Mariens in Jerusalem " or in Latin " Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum " ( engl . " Order of the House of St . Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem " ) . It is commonly known in German as the " Deutscher Orden " ( official short name , engl . " German Order " ) , historically also as " Deutscher Ritterorden " ( " German Order of Knights " ) , " Deutschherrenorden " , " Deutschritterorden " ( " Order of the German Knights " ) or " Die Herren im weißen Mantel " ( " The lords in white capes " ) . The Teutonic Knights have been known as " Zakon Krzyżacki " in Polish ( " Order of the Cross " ) and as " Kryžiuočių Ordinas " in Lithuanian , " Vācu Ordenis " in Latvian , " Saksa Ordu " or , simply , " Ordu " ( " The Order " ) in Estonian , as well as various names in other languages . Medieval organization of the order . Universal leadership . Generalkapitel . The " Generalkapitel " ( general chapter ) was the collection of all the priests , knights and half - brothers ( German : " Halbbrüder " ) . Because of the logistical problems to assemble the members , who were spread over large distances , only deputations of the bailiwick s and commandries gathered to form the General chapter . The General chapter was designed to meet annually , but the conventions usually were limited to the election of a new Grandmaster . The decisions of the " Generalkapitel " had a binding effect on the " Großgebietigers " of the order . Hochmeister . The " Hochmeister " ( Grandmaster ) was the highest officer of the order . Until 1525 , he was elected by the " Generalkapitel " . He had the rank of an ecclesiastic imperial state leader and was sovereign prince of Prussia until 1466 . Despite this high formal position , practically , he only was a kind of first among equals . Großgebietiger . The " Großgebietiger " were high officers with competence on the whole order , appointed by the " Hochmeister " . There were five offices . National leadership . Landmeister . The order was divided in three national chapters , Prussia , Livland and the territory of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation . The highest officer of each chapter was the " Landmeister " ( country master ) . They were elected by the regional chapters . In the beginning , they were only substitutes of the Grandmaster but were able to create a power of their own so that , within their territory , the Grandmaster could not decide against their will . At the end of their rule over Prussia , the Grandmaster was only " Landmeister " of Prussia . There were three Landmeisters : Regional leadership . Because the properties of the order within the rule of the " Deutschmeister " did not form a cohesive territory but were spread over the whole empire and parts of Europe , there was an additional regional structure , the bailiwick . " Kammerbaleien " were governed by the Grandmaster himself . Some of these bailiwicks had the rank of imperial states Local leadership . Komtur . The smallest administrative unit of the order was the Kommende . It was ruled by a Komtur , who had all administrative rights and controlled the " Vogteien " ( district of a reeve ) and " Zehnthöfe " ( tithe collectors ) within his rule . In the commandry , all kinds of brothers lived together in a monastic way . Noblemen served as Knight - brothers or Priest - brothers . Other people could serve as Sariantbrothers , who were armed soldiers and as Half - brothers , who were working in economy and healthcare . History . Foundation . In 1143 Pope Celestine II ordered the Knights Hospitaller to take over management of a German hospital in Jerusalem , which , according to the chronicler Jean d ’ Ypres , accommodated the countless German pilgrims and crusaders who could neither speak the local language ( i . e . old French ) nor Latin ( " patriæ linguam ignorantibus atque Latinam " ) . Although formally an institution of the Hospitallers , the pope commanded that the prior and the brothers of the " domus Theutonicorum " ( house of the Germans ) should always be Germans themselves , so a tradition of a German - led religious institution could develop during the 12th century in the Kingdom of Jerusalem . After the loss of Jerusalem in 1187 , some merchants from Lübeck and Bremen took up the idea and founded a field hospital for the duration of the siege of Acre in 1190 , which became the nucleus of the order ; Celestine III recognized it in 1192 by granting the monks Augustinian Rule . Based on the model of the Knights Templar it was , however , transformed into a military order in 1198 and the head of the order became known as the Grand Master ( " magister hospitalis " ) . It received papal orders for crusades to take and hold Jerusalem for Christianity and defend the Holy Land against the Muslim Saracens . During the rule of Grand Master Hermann von Salza ( 1209 – 1239 ) the Order changed from being a hospice brotherhood for pilgrims to primarily a military order . Originally based in Acre , the Knights purchased Montfort ( Starkenberg ) , northeast of Acre , in 1220 . This castle , which defended the route between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea , was made the seat of the Grand Masters in 1229 , although they returned to Acre after losing Montfort to Muslim control in 1271 . The Order also had a castle at Amouda in Armenia Minor . The Order received donations of land in the Holy Roman Empire ( especially in present - day Germany and Italy ) , Frankish Greece , and the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Emperor Frederick II elevated his close friend Hermann von Salza to the status of " Reichsfürst " , or " Prince of the Empire " , enabling the Grand Master to negotiate with other senior princes as an equal . During Frederick ' s coronation as King of Jerusalem in 1225 , Teutonic Knights served as his escort in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; von Salza read the emperor ' s proclamation in both French and German . However , the Teutonic Knights were never as influential in Outremer as the older Templars and Hospitallers . In 1211 , Andrew II of Hungary accepted their services and granted them the district of Burzenland in Transylvania . Andrew had been involved in negotiations for the marriage of his daughter with the son of Hermann , Landgrave of Thuringia , whose vassals included the family of Hermann von Salza . Led by a brother called Theoderich , the Order defended the South - Eastern borders of Kingdom of Hungary against the neighbouring Cumans and settled new German colonists among those who were known as the Transylvanian Saxons , living there before . In 1224 the Knights petitioned Pope Honorius III to be placed directly under the authority of the Papal See , rather than that of the King of Hungary . Angered and alarmed at their growing power , Andrew responded by expelling them in 1225 , although he allowed the new colonists to remain . Prussia . In 1226 , Konrad I , Duke of Masovia in north - eastern Poland , appealed to the Knights to defend his borders and subdue the pagan Baltic Prussians , allowing the Teutonic Knights use of Chełmno Land ( Culmerland ) as a base for their campaign . This being a time of widespread crusading fervor throughout Western Europe , Hermann von Salza considered Prussia a good training ground for his knights for the wars against the Muslims in Outremer . With the Golden Bull of Rimini , Emperor Frederick II bestowed on the Order a special imperial privilege for the conquest and possession of Prussia , including Chełmno Land , with nominal papal sovereignty . In 1235 the Teutonic Knights assimilated the smaller Order of Dobrzyń , which had been established earlier by Christian , the first Bishop of Prussia . The conquest of Prussia was accomplished with much bloodshed over more than 50 years , during which native Prussians who remained unbaptised were subjugated , killed , or exiled . Fighting between the Knights and the Prussians was ferocious ; chronicles of the Order state the Prussians would " roast captured brethren alive in their armour , like chestnuts , before the shrine of a local god " . The native nobility who submitted to the crusaders had many of their privileges affirmed in the Treaty of Christburg . After the Prussian uprisings of 1260 – 83 , however , much of the Prussian nobility emigrated or were resettled , and many free Prussians lost their rights . The Prussian nobles who remained were more closely allied with the German landowners and gradually assimilated . Peasants in frontier regions , such as Samland , had more privileges than those in more populated lands , such as Pomesania . The crusading knights often accepted baptism as a form of submission by the natives . Christianity along western lines slowly spread through Prussian culture . Bishops were reluctant to have Prussian religious practices integrated into the new faith , while the ruling knights found it easier to govern the natives when they were semi - pagan and lawless . After 50 years of warfare and brutal conquest the end result meant that most of the Prussian natives were either killed or deported . The Order ruled Prussia under charters issued by the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor as a sovereign monastic state , comparable to the arrangement of the Knights Hospitallers in Rhodes and later in Malta . To make up for losses from the and to replace the partially exterminated native population , the Order encouraged the immigration of colonists from the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ( mostly Germans , Flemish , and Dutch ) and from Masovia ( Poles ) , the later Masurians . The colonists included nobles , burghers , and peasants , and the surviving Old Prussians were gradually assimilated through Germanization . The settlers founded numerous towns and cities on former Prussian settlements . The Order itself built a number of castles ( " Ordensburg en " ) from which it could defeat uprisings of Old Prussians , as well as continue its attacks on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland , with which the Order was often at war during the 14th and 15th centuries . Major towns founded by the Order included Allenstein ( Olsztyn ) , Elbing ( Elbląg ) , Klaipėda ( Memel ) and Königsberg , founded in 1255 in honor of King Otakar II of Bohemia on the site of a destroyed Prussian settlement . In 1236 the Knights of Saint Thomas , an English order , adopted the rules of the Teutonic Order . A contingent of Teutonic Knights of indeterminate number is traditionally believed to have participated at the Battle of Legnica in 1241 against the Mongols . However , recent analysis of the 15th century " Annals of Jan Długosz " by Labuda suggests that the German crusaders may have been added to the text ( listing the Allied Army ) after the chronicler Długosz had completed the work . Legnica is the furthest west the Mongol expansion would reach in Poland . Livonia . The Livonian Brothers of the Sword were absorbed by the Teutonic Knights in 1237 , after the former had suffered a devastating defeat in the Battle of Saule . The Livonian branch subsequently became known as the Livonian Order . Attempts to expand into Kievan Rus failed when the knights suffered a major defeat in 1242 in the Battle of the Ice at the hands of Prince Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod . Over the next decades the Order focused on the subjugation of the Curonians and Semigallians . In 1260 it suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Durbe , which inspired rebellions throughout Prussia and Livonia . The Curonians were finally subjugated in 1267 and the Semigallians in 1290 . In 1343 - 1345 the order suppressed a major Estonian rebellion , and in 1346 purchased the Duchy of Estonia from Denmark . Against Lithuania . The Teutonic Knights began to direct their campaigns against pagan Lithuania ( see Lithuanian mythology ) , especially after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at Acre in 1291 . The knights moved their headquarters to Venice , from which they planned the recovery of Outremer . Because " Lithuania Propria " remained non - Christian until the end of the 14th century , much later than the rest of eastern Europe , many knights from western European countries , such as England and France , journeyed to Prussia to participate in the seasonal campaigns ( " reyse " ) against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Some of them campaigned against pagans to obtain remission for their sins , while others fought to gain military experience . Warfare between the Order and the Lithuanians was especially brutal . Non - Christians were seen as lacking rights possessed by Christians . Because enslavement of non - Christians was seen as acceptable at the time and the subdued native Prussians demanded land or payment , the Knights often used captured pagan Lithuanians for forced labor . The contemporary Austrian poet Peter Suchenwirt described treatment he witnessed of pagans by the Knights : Women and children were taken captive ; What a jolly medley could be seen : Many a woman could be seen , Two children tied to her body , One behind and one in front ; On a horse without spurs Barefoot had they ridden here ; The heathens were made to suffer : Many were captured and in every case , Were their hands tied together They were led off , all tied up — Just like hunting dogs . It was a total war in every sense of the word . Lasting for more than 200 years , having its front line along the river Nemunas ( with as many as 20 forts and castles only between Seredžius and Jurbarkas , in astrip of about ) and a buffer zone , stretching on the both banks , absolutely desolated wasteland . This struggle was so deeply etched into Lithuanian culture and mentality that even now it is probably the biggest source of national pride and self - identity . Against Poland . A dispute over the succession to the Duchy of Pomerelia embroiled the Order in further conflict in the beginning of the 14th century . The Margraves of Brandenburg had claims to the duchy which they acted upon after the death of King Wenceslaus of Poland in 1306 . Duke Władysław I the Elbow - high of Poland claimed the duchy as well basing on inheritance from Przemysław II , but was opposed by some Pomeranians nobles . They requested help from Brandenburg , which subsequently occupied all of Pomerelia except for the citadel of Danzig ( Gdańsk ) in 1308 . Because Władysław was unable to come to the defense of Danzig , the Teutonic Knights , then led by Hochmeister Siegfried von Feuchtwangen , were hired to expel the Brandenburgers . The Order , under Prussian Landmeister Heinrich von Plötzke , evicted the Brandenburgers from Danzig in September 1308 but then refused to yield the town to the Poles and massacred the town ' s inhabitants . In the Treaty of Soldin , the Teutonic Order purchased Brandenburg ' s supposed claim to the castles of Danzig , Schwetz ( Świecie ) , and Dirschau ( Tczew ) and their hinterlands from the margraves for 10 , 000 marks on September 13 , 1309 . Control of Pomerelia allowed the Order to connect their monastic state with the borders of the Holy Roman Empire . Crusading reinforcements and supplies could travel from the Imperial territory of Hither Pomerania through Pomerelia to Prussia , while Poland ' s access to the Baltic Sea was blocked . While Poland had mostly been an ally of the knights against the pagan Prussians and Lithuanians , the capture of Pomerelia turned the kingdom into a determined enemy of the Order . The capture of Danzig marked a new phase in the history of the Teutonic Knights . The persecution and abolition of the powerful Knights Templar which began in 1307 worried the Teutonic Knights , but control of Pomerelia allowed them to move their headquarters in 1309 from Venice to Marienburg ( Malbork ) on the Nogat River , outside of the reach of secular powers . The position of Prussian Landmeister was merged with that of the Grand Master . The Pope began investigating misconduct by the knights , but the Order was defended by able jurists . Along with the campaigns against the Lithuanians , the knights faced a vengeful Poland and legal threats from the Papacy . The Treaty of Kalisz of 1343 ended open war between the Teutonic Knights and Poland . The Knights relinquished Kuyavia and Dobrzyń Land to Poland , but retained Culmerland and Pomerelia with Danzig . Height of power . In 1337 Emperor Louis IV allegedly granted the Order the imperial privilege to conquer all Lithuania and Russia . During the reign of Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode ( 1351 – 1382 ) , the Order reached the peak of its international prestige and hosted numerous European crusaders and nobility . King Albert of Sweden ceded Gotland to the Order as a pledge ( similar to a fiefdom ) , with the understanding that they would eliminate the pirating Victual Brothers from this strategic island base in the Baltic Sea . An invasion force under Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen conquered the island in 1398 and drove the Victual Brothers out of Gotland and the Baltic Sea . In 1386 Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania was baptised into Christianity and married Queen Jadwiga of Poland , taking the name Władysław II Jagiełło and becoming King of Poland . This created a personal union between the two countries and a potentially formidable opponent for the Teutonic Knights . The Order initially managed to play Jagiello and his cousin Vytautas against each other , but this strategy failed when Vytautas began to suspect that the Order was planning to annex parts of his territory . The baptism of Jagiello began the official conversion of Lithuania to Christianity . Although the crusading rationale for the Order ' s state ended when Prussia and Lithuania had become officially Christian , the Order ' s feuds and wars with Lithuania and Poland continued . The Lizard Union was created in 1397 by Prussian nobles in Culmerland to oppose the Order ' s policy . In 1407 the Teutonic Order reached its greatest territorial extent and included the lands of Prussia , Pomerelia , Samogitia , Courland , Livonia , Estonia , Gotland , Dagö , Ösel , and the Neumark , pawned by Brandenburg in 1402 . Decline . In 1410 at the Battle of Grunwald ( ) — known in Lithuanian as the Battle of Žalgiris — a combined Polish - Lithuanian army , led by Vytautas and Jogaila , decisively defeated the Order in the Polish - Lithuanian - Teutonic War . Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen and most of the Order ' s higher dignitaries fell on the battlefield ( 50 out of 60 ) . The Polish - Lithuanian army then besieged the capital of the Order , Marienburg , but was unable to take it owing to the resistance of Heinrich von Plauen . When the First Peace of Thorn was signed in 1411 , the Order managed to retain essentially all of its territories , although the Knights ' reputation as invincible warriors was irreparably damaged . While Poland and Lithuania were growing in power , that of the Teutonic Knights dwindled through infighting . They were forced to impose high taxes to pay a substantial indemnity but did not give the cities sufficient requested representation in the administration of their state . The authoritarian and reforming Grand Master Heinrich von Plauen was forced from power and replaced by Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg , but the new Grand Master was unable to revive the Order ' s fortunes . After the Gollub War the Knights lost some small border regions and renounced all claims to Samogitia in the 1422 Treaty of Melno . Austrian and Bavarian knights feuded with those from the Rhineland , who likewise bickered with Low German - speaking Saxons , from whose ranks the Grand Master was usually chosen . The western Prussian lands of the Vistula River Valley and the Brandenburg Neumark were ravaged by the Hussite s during the Hussite Wars . Some Teutonic Knights were sent to battle the invaders , but were defeated by the Bohemian infantry . The Knights also sustained a defeat in the Polish - Teutonic War ( 1431 - 1435 ) . In 1454 the Prussian Confederation , consisting of the gentry and burghers of western Prussia , rose up against the Order , beginning the Thirteen Years ' War . Much of Prussia was devastated in the war , during the course of which the Order returned Neumark to Brandenburg in 1455 . In the Second Peace of Thorn ( 1466 ) , the defeated Order recognized the Polish crown ' s rights over western Prussia ( subsequently Royal Prussia ) while retaining eastern Prussia under nominal Polish overlordship . Because Marienburg Castle was handed over to mercenaries in lieu of their pay , the Order moved its base to Königsberg in Sambia . The Order was completely ousted from Prussia when Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg , after the Polish – Teutonic War ( 1519 – 1521 ) , converted to Lutheranism in 1525 , secularized the Order ' s remaining Prussian territories , and assumed from King Sigismund I the Old of Poland , his uncle , the hereditary rights to the Duchy of Prussia as a vassal of the Polish Crown in the Prussian Homage . The Protestant Duchy of Prussia was thus a fief of Catholic Poland . Although it had lost control of all of its Prussian lands , the Teutonic Order retained its territories within the Holy Roman Empire and Livonia , although the Livonian branch retained considerable autonomy . Many of the Imperial possessions were ruined in the German Peasants ' War from 1524 to 1525 and subsequently confiscated by Protestant territorial princes . The Livonian territory was then partitioned by neighboring powers during the Livonian War ; in 1561 the Livonian Master Gotthard Kettler secularized the southern Livonian possessions of the Order to create the Duchy of Courland , also a vassal of Poland . After the loss of Prussia in 1525 , the Teutonic Knights concentrated on their possessions in the Holy Roman Empire . Since they held no contiguous territory , they developed a three - tiered administrative system : holdings were combined into commanderies which were administered by a commander ( " Komtur " ) . Several commanderies were combined to form a bailiwick headed by a " Landkomtur " . All of the Teutonic Knights ' possessions were subordinate to the Grand Master whose seat was in Bad Mergentheim . Altogether there were twelve German bailiwicks : Outside of German areas were the bailiwicks of The Order gradually lost control of these holdings until , by 1810 , only the bailiwicks in Tyrol and Austria remained . Following the abdication of Albert of Brandenburg , Walter von Cronberg became " Deutschmeister " in 1527 , and later Administrator of Prussia and Grand Master in 1530 . Emperor Charles V combined the two positions in 1531 , creating the title " Hoch - und Deutschmeister " , which also had the rank of Prince of the Empire . A new Grand Magistery was established in Mergentheim in Württemberg , which was attacked during the German Peasants ' War . The Order also helped Charles V against the Schmalkaldic League . After the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 , membership in the Order was open to Protestants , although the majority of brothers remained Catholic . The Teutonic Knights now were tri - denominational , and there were Catholic , Lutheran and Reformed bailiwicks . The Grand Masters , often members of the great German families ( and , after 1761 , members of the House of Habsburg - Lorraine ) , continued to preside over the Order ' s considerable holdings in Germany . Teutonic Knights from Germany , Austria , and Bohemia were used as battlefield commanders leading mercenaries for the Habsburg Monarchy during the Ottoman wars in Europe . The military history of the Teutonic Knights ended in 1809 , when Napoleon Bonaparte ordered their dissolution and the Order lost its remaining secular holdings to Napoleon ' s vassals and allies . Grand Masters ' tomb found . Polish archeologists report that DNA testing has confirmed the skeletal remains found in a cathedral in Kwidzyn ( German : Marienwerder ) are the 600 - year - old remains of three of the Teutonic Knights ' more famous Grand Masters . Archeologist Bogumil Wisniewski , says that researchers are 95 % sure the remains are those of Grand Masters Werner von Orseln ( 1324 – 30 ) , Ludolf Koenig ( 1342 – 45 ) and Heinrich von Plauen ( 1410 – 13 ) . The skeletons , found in wooden coffins , were draped in silk robes and painted with gold , as was the custom of only those in high positions , during the Middle Ages . Several other indicators supported the find , including murals showing the three knights and historic documents indicating two of them were buried beneath the church . After the scientific studies are complete the remains will be put on public display in the ancient church , under a special glass shield . Modern Teutonic Order . The Roman Catholic order continued to exist in Austria , out of Napoleon ' s reach . Beginning in 1804 and until 1923 ( in which year Archduke Eugen of Austria resigned the grandmastership ) , it was headed by members of the Habsburg dynasty . All the following Grand Masters were priests . In 1929 , that branch of the Teutonic knights was converted to a purely spiritual Roman Catholic religious order and renamed the " Deutscher Orden " ( " German Order " ) . After Austria ' s annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 , the Teutonic Order was suppressed throughout the " Großdeutsches Reich " until defeat of that regime , although the Nazis used imagery of the medieval Teutonic knights for propagandistic purposes . The Roman Catholic order survived in Italy , however , and was reconstituted in Germany and Austria in 1945 . By the end of the 20th century , this part of the Order had developed into a charitable organization and incorporated numerous clinic s , as well as sponsoring excavation and tourism projects in Israel . In 2000 , the German chapter of the Teutonic Order declared bankruptcy and its upper management was dismissed ; an investigation by a special committee of the Bavarian parliament in 2002 and 2003 to determine the cause was inconclusive . The Catholic branch now consists of approximately 1 , 000 members , including 100 Roman Catholic priests , 200 nuns , and 700 associates . While the priests are organized into six provinces ( Austria , the Czech Republic , Germany , Italy , Slovakia , and Slovenia ) and predominantly provide spiritual guidance , the nuns primarily care for the ill and the aged . Associates are active in Austria , Belgium , the Czech Republic , Germany , and Italy . Many of the priests care for German - speaking communities outside of Germany and Austria , especially in Italy and Slovenia ; in this sense the Teutonic Order has returned to its 12th - century : the spiritual and physical care of Germans in foreign lands . The current General Abbot of the Order , who also holds the title of Grand Master , is Bruno Platter . The current seat of the Grand Master is the Deutschordenskirche ( Church of the German Order ) in Vienna . Near the Stephansdom in the Austrian capital is the Treasury of the Teutonic Order which is open to the public , and the order ' s Central Archive . Since 1996 there has also been a museum dedicated to the Teutonic Knights at their former castle in Bad Mergentheim in Germany , which was the seat of the Grand Master from 1525 – 1809 . A portion of the Order retains more of the character of the knights during the height of its power and prestige . The " Balije van Utrecht " ( " Bailiwick of Utrecht " ) of the " Ridderlijke Duitsche Orde " ( " Chivalric German [ i . e . , ' Teutonic ' ] Order " ) became Protestant at the Reformation , and it remains much an aristocratic society , though now admitting noble women as well as noble men . The relationship of the Bailiwick of Utrecht to the Roman Catholic " Deutscher Orden " resembles that of the Protestant Bailiwick of Brandenburg to the Roman Catholic Order of Malta : each is an authentic part of its original order , though differing from and smaller than the Roman Catholic branch . Influence on German , Polish and Lithuanian nationalism . German nationalism often invoked the imagery of the Teutonic Knights , especially in the context of territorial conquest from eastern neighbours of Germany and conflict with nations of Slavic origins , whom German nationalists considered less developed and of inferior culture . The German historian Heinrich von Treitschke used imagery of the Teutonic Knights to promote pro - German and anti - Polish rhetoric . Many middle - class German nationalists adopted this imagery and its symbols . During the Weimar Republic , associations and organisations of this nature contributed to laying the groundwork for the formation of Nazi Germany . Before and during World War II , Nazi propaganda and ideology made frequent use of the Teutonic Knights ' imagery , as the Nazis sought to depict the Knights ' actions as a forerunner of the Nazi conquests for Lebensraum . Heinrich Himmler tried to idealize the SS as a 20th - century re - incarnation of the medieval Order . Yet , despite these references to the Teutonic Order ' s history in Nazi propaganda , the Order itself was abolished in 1938 and its members were persecuted by the German authorities . This occurred mostly due to Hitler ' s and Himmler ' s belief that throughout history , Roman Catholic military - religious orders had been tools of the Holy See and as such constituted a threat to the Nazi regime . The converse was true for Polish nationalism ( see : Sienkiewicz " The Knights of the Cross " ) , which used the Teutonic Knights as symbolic shorthand for Germans in general , conflating the two into an easily recognizable image of the hostile . Similar associations were used by Soviet propagandists , such as the Teutonic knight villains in the 1938 Sergei Eisenstein film " Aleksandr Nevskii " . Lithuanian nationalists , particularly in the 19th century , used the history of their wars with the Teutonic Order to idealise the heroism of the medieval Lithuanians , a very strong argument in support of preserving the Lithuanian language , history and culture . Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany posed for a photo in 1902 in the garb of a monk from the Teutonic Order , climbing the stairs in the reconstructed Marienburg Castle as a symbol of Imperial German policy .