The parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of sailors and merchants. According to some sources it was built in the second half of the 13th century, according to others in 1320–1330.
A brick building measuring 23.5 x 10.8 m. Its outward appearance is very plain. It never had a tower or buttresses. The west portal is very remarkable. On both sides of it there is a blind window; the gable was built in 1844. A brick frieze. Inside, a flat ceiling on wall columns linked by carved arches. Altar of 1649. Pulpit of 1650, restored in 1693. Confessional of 1698. Organ from the early 18th century. Bells of 1637 and 1675, the latter of a whimsical shape, apparently taken from the castle.
The altar of Balga Church.
During the Second World War fierce fighting took place in the Balga area. The church was badly damaged, but the shell of the building survived.
Interior of the church.
Then, after the war, the destruction continued, by both people and nature. The entire churchyard was dug up. The area became overgrown with shrubs and trees. At the end of the 1990s the pits in the cemetery were filled in and the remains of the church were conserved. As of 2002 only fragments of the walls survived, including the west wall with the portal, on which almost none of the carved decoration remains. Two blind windows can be seen. The south wall has survived less well; there are large holes in it.
There is no settlement here, except for two houses and the remains of foundations.
Photos on this page: Bildarchiv Ostpreußen
Emil Johannes Guttzeit's article "Balga" in Russian: LINK (PDF)
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
