Ulrich von Jungingen Ulrich von Jungingen ( 8 January 1360 – 15 July 1410 ) was the 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights , serving from 1407 to 1410 . His policy of confrontation with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland sparked the Polish – Lithuanian – Teutonic War and led to disaster for the Order in the Battle of Grunwald . Life . A scion of the Swabian noble house of Jungingen , he was probably born at Hohenfels Castle near Stockach , as the ancestral seat at Jungingen had been devastated in 1311 . Ulrich and his elder brother Konrad von Jungingen , as younger sons excluded from succession , took the vow of the Teutonic Knights and moved to the Order ' s State in Prussia . Ulrich resided in Schlochau ( Człuchów ) and was Komtur of Balga ( 1396 – 1404 ) . His career profited from the patronage by his elder brother Konrad , who was elected Grand Master in 1393 . After the Knights had expelled the Victual Brothers from Gotland in 1398 , Ulrich distinguished himself in the negotitations for the possession of the island with Queen Margaret I of Denmark , as well as on diplomatic missions to Poland and to Lithuania in connection with the conclusion of the 1398 Treaty of Salynas concerning the Duchy of Samogitia . In 1404 Ulrich was appointed the Order ' s Marshal ( i . e . military leader ) and Komtur of Königsberg . He had to deal with several Samogitian uprisings , which he fought both with strict suppression and bribery of the local nobles . Upon the sudden death of Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen in 1407 , Ulrich on 26 June , was chosen for his succession . Unlike his brother , Ulrich ' s diplomatic capability was limited . The situation in Samogitia remained tense , incited by Grand Duke Vytautas , who intended to make use of the turmoils to regain the ceded lands . Furthermore the new Grand Master had inherited the rising conflict with Vytautas ' cousin King Jogaila of Poland over Dobrzyń Land and the pawned Neumark region . The Polish ambassador Archbishop Mikołaj Kurowski declared , that any attack on Lithuania would inevitably entail an armed conflict with Poland . Despite the threat of a two - front war , Ulrich prepared for an preemptive strike . He forged an alliance with King Sigismund of Hungary , levied mercenaries in the Holy Roman Empire , and on 6 August 1409 declared war against Poland . Though Ulrich received no help from his ally King Sigismund , who stuck in the conflict with his cousin Jobst of Moravia over the election as King of the Romans , the Order ' s forces at first successfully campaigned Dobrzyń and Kuyavia and laid siege to Bydgoszcz . Sigismund ' s brother King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia arranged a temporary truce and mediated between the belligerents , though without result . On 2 July 1410 , the Grand Master at the head of his army left Malbork Castle for the final battle against the united Polish and Lithuanian forces . Both sides met on 15 July between the villages of Grunwald ( " Grünfelde " ) and Stębark ( " Tannenberg " ) . As until noontide none of the armies made a move , Ulrich , according to the annals of Jan Długosz , had two swords delivered to King Jogaila with the remark he and " Witold " ( Vytautas ) may finally live or die by them . This act , seen as a bold provocation , sparked the Lithuanian attack , at first repulsed by the Knights but soon followed by a second strike by Jogaila ' s forces . Battle luck changed , after Ulrich , sure of victory , decided to personally lead his remaining regiments against the Polish troops . He nearly got hold of the king , but at the same time lost the general view over the Order ' s operations . After the allied Prussian forces of the Lizard Union under Nicholas von Renys broke away , the Grand Master had to face the superior numbers of the Polish - Lithuanian union . When the Lithuanians attacked him from the rear , Ulrich ' s troops were routed and he himself was killed in action . According Jan Długosz , he was met and defeated by the Polish knight Mszczuj of Skrzynno . King Jogaila allowed the translation of his mortal remains to Malbork Castle before he began the Siege of Marienburg . Legacy . Based on Długosz ' s description , later generations have imputed Ulrich von Jungingen with hot - bloodedness and arrogance . The painting " Battle of Grunwald " by Jan Matejko supposedly illustrates the moment when Ulrich , dressed in white with a black cross , trying to attack Grand Duke Vytautas , is killed by two Polish infantrists , equipped with an executioner ' s axe and a replica of the Holy Lance reminiscent of the Congress of Gniezno . The tradition was resumed by Henryk Sienkiewicz in his 1900 novel " The Knights of the Cross " , originally modeled on the measures of the Russian occupants in Vistula Land , describing Ulrich as an impulsive and aggressive commander . The book was made into a film by Aleksander Ford in 1960 . On the other hand , 19th century German historiography protraited Ulrich as a man of chivalric virtues , who succumbed to the cunning of his enemies , as rendered by the author Ernst Wichert in his novel " Heinrich von Plauen " . Ulrich ' s successor Heinrich von Plauen had a lady chapel erected on the former battlefield in 1413 , which probably was destroyed by Lipka Tatar or Crimean Tatar forces campaigning the region in 1656 . In 1901 a glacial erratic ( " Jungingenstein " ) , commemorating a " hero ' s death in the struggle for German spirit and German law " , was set up at the behest of the German authorities in East Prussia . The stone ist still in its place but has toppled over with the result that the inscription is no longer readable . A more recent second memorial stone nearby marks the place of Jungingen ' s death ( " " Miejsce śmierci Wielkiego Mistrza Ulricha von Jungingena " " ) . The surrounding area is today the site of an annual historical reenactment .