An Order castle was founded here in 1270. The church was built in the 14th century on the territory of the Vorburg (the outer castle fortification). In 1841 it was thoroughly restored. The last restoration was carried out in 1933–37. Originally the church was an unplastered brick building, but in the 19th century it was covered with yellow plaster. The three-storey tower with a copper spire had a flagpole and a weather vane. The nave adjoining the tower (external dimensions 27.62 x 9.42 m) had buttresses and narrow windows. A porch was added to it on the south. The chancel may have been built in 1841. A sacristy adjoined it on the south.
The length of its nave was striking, and the impression was heightened by the height of the walls and the tall, narrow windows. Beyond the pointed triumphal arch was the chancel, which housed the altar, built in 1672.
The last pulpit, the third, dates from 1668. The baptismal font was made here in 1721 in the shape of a seashell. The organ was built in 1824. The church had three bells, of 1655, 1794 and 1780.
During the storming of Königsberg one of the main Soviet thrusts was delivered along the Wargen–Königsberg line, and all the settlements from Wargen south to the Drinking Water Canal were razed, including Preil Castle. Wargen Church was almost completely destroyed, as was the village.
In the summer of 1989 a search group from Riga carried out excavations on the grounds of Wargen Church, testing a theory about the Amber Room.
In 1990 traces of the many excavations carried out here could be seen on the site of the church. Of the church, the foundations and opened cellars could be made out. That there was once a church here can only be told from the remains of the cemetery.
Photos on this page: Bildarchiv Ostpreußen, bildarchiv-ostpreussen.de.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
