Royal Castle , Poznań The Royal Castle in Poznań ( ) dates from 1249 and the reign of Przemysł I . Located in the Polish city of Poznań , it was largely destroyed during the Second World War but has since been partly rebuilt . History and modern view . Construction of the castle was probably started by Przemysł I in 1249 on hill later called Góra Zamkowa ( Castle Mountain , Latin " mons castrenis " ) , and now better known as Góra Przemysława ( Hill of Przemysł ( or Przemysław ) ) . The first building was a habitable tower made of bricks with a well inside , and the rest of the hill was surrounded by a rampart with a palisade . A small ducal residence was incorporated into the system of city walls in the late 13th century . The son of Przemysł I , Przemysł II , hoping for reunification of Poland under his rule decided to build a larger castle , more proper for a king . In 1295 Przemysł became king of Poland , but he was assassinated a year later . The castle wasn ' t finished . Work started by Przemysł was continued by a branch of the Piasts from Głogów ruling in Greater Poland , and finished before 1337 . The castle served as the residence of prince Casimir , then - governor of Greater Poland . In 1337 , the Royal Castle in Poznań was the largest castle in the Polish Kingdom , modelled after the palatium of Henry I the Bearded in Legnica . The castle consisted of a tower built by Przemysł I and a huge building ( 63 , 0 m x 17 , 5 m ) with three levels and a basement . It is uncertain whether the castle ' s characteristic roof , consisting of four parts , existed at that time . Basements served as prisons and for storage of wines , and on the ground floor there were charring rooms . Those two condignations were covered by vaults . Two higher floors probably had wooden ceilings . On the edges of first floor were representative chambers , and between them were habitual rooms . The whole second floor was occupied by achamber for 2000 guests . On the south end of the large building was a defense tower . Since the reign of Władysław I the Elbow - high the castle served as the residence of " starosta generalny " of Greater Poland . Later only one king , Władysław II Jagiełło , ordered some minor work in castle . During the fire of Poznań in 1536 the castle also burned . It was rebuilt in the renaissance style by the governor of Greater Poland , Andrzej II Górka . In the next years the oldest part of castle was transformed into a kitchen . The castle was later destroyed during the Swedish invasion , sacked in 1704 by the armies of Russia and Saxony during Great Northern War , and in 1716 during Confederation of Tarnogród ( konfederacja tarnogrodzka ) by the confederates . The castle was partially renovated in 1721 , but it didn ' t stop the devastation . The last " starosta generalny " , Kazimierz Raczyński , rebuilt the remains of the medieval buildings into an archive ( finished in 1783 ) . In 1704 , after The Second partition of Poland , Prussia ns demolished the southern part of the castle , replacing it by buildings which , together with Raczyński ' s archive served as the office of the local " Regierungsbezirk " . Later on the castle was also as a seat of the Court of Appeals and the State Archive ( the castle served as an archive until 1939 ) . During the battle for the Poznań Citadelle , in February 1945 , Przemysł Hill was in line of artillery fire , and the remaining part of the castle was demolished . In the years 1959 – 1964 Raczyński ' s archive and part of Prussian building were rebuilt , and on base of the oldest tower stands a small pavilion called the Royal Kitchen ( Kuchnia Królewska ) . Today the Castle holds a Museum of Utilitary Art ( Muzeum Sztuki Użytkowej ) . On 22 April 2002 , a committee for rebuilding of the castle was founded . Still extant from previous construction are two - meter - wide supports from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries , the inner walls of the basement and the western wall ( up to 10 meters high ) from the same period , and a slightly newer eastern wall ( up to 7 or 8 meters high ) , now integrated into Raczyński ' s Building . On the surviving part of the castle are three plaques : the foundation plaque of Kazimierz Raczyński from 1783 , one from 1993 marking the five - hundredth anniversary of Homage of Grand Master of the Teutonic Order , Johann von Tiefen , and another plaque commemorating the seven - hundredth anniversary of the coronation of Przemysł II . On 20 December 2010 , work began on the total reconstruction of the demolished parts of the castle , and meticulous restoration of the surviving buildings . Legends . According to legend , Przemysł Hill was created by dark powers . When Mieszko I was baptized , an angry Devil decided to sink the entire city of Poznań . He pulled out one of the hills near Gniezno , and , with a group of demon s , tried to block the flow of the Warta . However , the evil forces started to celebrate their victory too early ; their noisy behavior awoke the rooster s , which began to crow . The devil and his demons were so scared that they left the hill on the bank of Warta . Another legend is connected with the mysterious murder of Ludgarda , wife of Przemysł II of Poland , probably strangled by servants in the bath or in her bedroom on 14 December 1283 . The Duke was connected with this murder because The Duchess couldn ' t give him a son . The Foundation of the Female Monastery of Dominicans in Poznań , created near the end of 1238 , was said to be Przemysł ' s reconciliation for this act . However , contemporary chronicles mention only unclear circumstances of Ludgarda ' s death . The first clear connection of Przemysł and this assassination is mentioned in the Chronicle of Oliwa , which is from the 14th century , and the chronicle of Ernst von Kirchberga , which dates to approximately 1370 . Jan Długosz , in his chronicles , writes only about the fact that people were talking about this connection . It has also been said that ghost of Ludgarda , seen as a White Lady , walked in the chambers and on the walls of the Royal Castle ; under the walls was seen the Black Knight , who cried for the Duchess at her funeral .