Coat of arms
of Allenburg
Founded in 1272 as a castle of the Teutonic Order on the site of a Prussian fortress. In 1255 the troops of the Order captured the fortress, and in 1256 they rebuilt it. In 1260 the fortress was destroyed by the rebellious Prussians. In 1272 the Order began building a new castle, which was named Allenburg. In 1400 Allenburg received town rights; in that year Allenburg had 50 households, and the town owned 54 Hufen of land. In 1405–06 a church was built, and in 1409 a school was opened. In 1455 the town was attacked by the Poles; the castle was burned and never rebuilt. After 1466 the town was given in fief to Count Konitz for his military services to the Order. His son Hans exchanged Allenburg with the Order for Wednicken.
In 1527 the town received the right to hold a market. In 1540 the town was given in fief to Georg von Polenz, a companion of Duke Albrecht. In 1663 Elector Frederick William confirmed Allenburg's town rights.
In 1683 an almshouse opened in Allenburg. During the plague epidemic of 1709–10 only 11 people in the town survived. During the Seven Years' War Allenburg was twice occupied by Russian troops (in 1757 and 1758) and remained under Russian administration until 1762. In 1776 construction of the Masurian Canal was completed. In 1807 the town was occupied by the French army. In 1867 and 1875 it suffered two major fires.
In 1874 the Ortspolizeibezirk Allenburg was created in the Landkreis Wehlau (Znamensk); it comprised one single municipality, Allenburg.
In the 19th century the municipality itself, besides Allenburg proper, included the localities of Abbau Merkisch (from 1916 Allenburgsfelde, 54°29'21'' N 21°14'11'' E), Allenburghausen (54°28'34'' N 21°13'36'' E), Dampfmühle (54°29'40'' N 21°12'07'' E), the Allenburg forester's lodge (Forsthaus Allenburg; 54°28'26'' N 21°16'05'' E), Keipen (54°29'56'' N 21°13'57'' E), Schneidemühle (from 1942 Sägewerk), the Eichwalde estate (Anokhino), the Muskau estate (Gut Muskau; Olenevo) and the Vorwerk Muskau.
In 1914 Allenburg found itself in the combat zone. The town suffered considerable destruction. On 26 August 1914 it was occupied by troops of the 106th Infantry Regiment of the 27th Infantry Division of the Russian 1st Army, but they abandoned it at the beginning of September 1914.
In 1922 a power station opened in Allenburg. On 30 September 1928 the Progen estate (Pospelovo) and the Vorwerk Damerau, which had previously belonged to the Gutsbezirk Progen, became part of the municipality of Allenburg. Before the war Allenburg had a sawmill and a dairy. The Wehlau – Friedland railway passed through the town, and a station was built on it in Allenburg.
On 26 January 1945 Allenburg was taken by troops of the 97th and 277th Rifle Divisions of the 65th Rifle Corps, 5th Army.
On 17 June 1947 Allenburg was renamed the settlement of Druzhba. The Druzhba Village Council was created at the same time. In 1948 a primary school was opened. In 1955 the settlement had a slaughterhouse and a flour mill. In the same year, 1955, the school in Druzhba became a secondary school. In 1973 the settlement had 59 houses, a school and a working flour mill. In 1986 there was a dairy farm, which was destroyed after 2001.
Coordinates of the settlement: 54°29'32'' N 21°11'25'' E
Sights: the church (1405–06), a Catholic chapel, the Masurian Canal with its locks, a burial ground of Russian and German soldiers (1914, a memorial since 1927), a mass grave of Soviet soldiers (442 people, monument 1957), old cobblestone paving.
Population change: 1782 – 1379, 1875 – 2090, 1885 – 2103, 1905 – 1653, 1910 – 1697, 1914 – 1713, 1925 – 1822, 1933 – 2082, 1939 – 2694,1946 – 756, 1986 – 540, 2002 – 515 inhabitants.
Population of the localities that belonged to the municipality of Allenburg:
Eichwalde: 1905 – 43 inhabitants.
Abbau Merkisch: 1905 – 14 inhabitants.
Allenburghausen: 1905 – 20 inhabitants.
Keipen: 1905 – 11 inhabitants.
Dampfmühle: 1905 – 5 inhabitants.
Allenburg forester's lodge: 1905 – 6 inhabitants.
Schneidemühle: 1905 – 7 inhabitants.
Muskau estate: 1905 – 47 inhabitants.
Vorwerk Muskau: 1905 – 6 inhabitants.
Damerau: 1905 – 4 inhabitants.
Modern photo by Mikhail Ogorodnikov.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
