The Museum in Kętrzyn has a collection of late Gothic sculptures from the Teutonic state in Prussia. The masterpiece of the collection is the figure of St. James the Great from the Hospital Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Kętrzyn. The Teutonic Order founded the local hospital around 1360. The sculpture of St. James itself was made by the Elbląg workshop in the years 1515-1520.
The apostle is depicted as a pilgrim in a traveling cloak, a wide-brimmed hat (with a trace of a seashell), in his right hand he displays an open book, and in his left he holds a walking stick and a travel bag.
The town of Kętrzyn lies on one of several medieval pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela – the burial place of St. James, which in the Middle Ages was the third most popular destination for European pilgrims after Rome and the Holy Land. The Brotherhood of St. James developed in Kętrzyn already at the end of the 15th century.
In addition to the statue of St. James, the museum collection includes Gothic figures of St. Peter the Apostle, St. George, the Crucified Christ from the crucifix from Garbno, eight figures of the apostles from the altar of the church in Galiny, a bust of a woman and a sculpture of St. Dorothy. The figure of St. Dorothy of Caesarea, an early Christian martyr from the 3rd century who was widely venerated in the Teutonic State, comes from the church in Tołkiny, as do the later sculptures of the Holy Trinity and angels on display.