The lands granted by the king Andras II to the Teutonic Order consisted of Burzenland, an area largely populated by the so-called Transylvanian Saxons who, despite the name, recruited chiefly from the western parts of the Holy Roman Empire and usually spoke Franconian dialects of German and came there first invited by king Geza II in early 1140s. Along with the beneficium, Order received several important privileges, including the right to collect the tenth tax, usually reserved to the Church, mint their own coins and build stone fortresses, with the latter being a privilege so far restricted only to a king himself.

Teutonic Order, then under the command of the ambitious and influential Grandmaster Hermann von Salza strived to transform the feudal fief dependent on other sovereigns into a separate state independent from any secular sovereigns and subservient only to Holy See. In 1223, Hermann von Salza asked Pope Honorius III to accept the Burzenland as the territory belonging to the Papacy, with the Teutonic Order as its administrators, even though they did not have a legal title to perform such cession. Honorius III accepted the proposal and issued a Bull, according to which Burzenland became the a part of the Church Estates. This resulted in an uproar among the Hungarian nobility and created a stir in the Royal Court. King Andras II decided to oppose the Order, regardless of the papal support for the latter, and with Hungarian nobility largely supporting him, he quickly called forth an substantial army.

The invitation of the Teutonic Order is generally assumed to be an idea of Gertrude von Merania, wife of Andras II who had a lot of connections among the German nobility. It is worth noting that their daughter Elisabeth was betrothed to Landgrave Ludvig von Thüringen, whose father was a close friend of Hermann von Salza himself. Invitation of German knights was met with opposition of the local nobles and it is generally assumed that it was an important reason behind the assassination of Gertrude during a hunt in 1213. The idea of using chivalric orders to fight the non-Christian neighbours in exchange for the lands, economic privileges and possibility to expand their holdings by a part of captured land was not a new concept, as the Brothers of the Militant Brothers of Christ (commonly known as Sword Brethren or Livonian Order) were taking part in the Northern Crusades against the Prussians since 1202 and will eventually merge with Teutonic Order in 1237 while local Spanish organizations, such as Order of Santiago were taking active part in Reconquista.

The contemporary sources are pretty scarce and generally do not speak of the Order strength in any detail, although some historians using the much better documented development of the Order in Prussia as the reference posit that the rapid expansion of the infrastructure and military victories suggest there could have been roughly 100 Order members (knight-brothers, sergeants and chaplains) in Transylvania. This might seem a small number, but it should be noted that for each actual member (knight brother) there were at least several well-armed retainers often professional soldiers, not to mention the servitors and mercenaries working for the Order.

Although the information about the five fortified places built by the Teutonic Order in Hungary is commonly referenced, historians are not exactly sure where these structures were actually located or how were they called, as the contemporary sources do not state any exact names or locations. Unlike the Order State in Prussia, where dozens of castles that exist today, some of them in very good shape and can be easily traced back to the Teutonic Order, Hungarian holdings are much ore of a mystery. And given the short-live presence of the Order in Hungary that amounted to only 14 years, quite turbulent history of the area and its strategic value propelling various local rulers to fund numerous defensive structures and the common practice of using previous fortifications, its parts or even ruins in such construction, the task is complex indeed.

Some historians, like Walter Horvath, suggest that Teutonic Order built the castles Kreuzburg, Marienburg, Schwarzburg, Heldenburg and Rucärburg. Out of these five, Marienburg is generally considered a most certain one, most likely being located where the Feldioara Castle (its western tower and part of northwester wall being largely considered an original Teutonic construction). Szwarzbur was likely located in the vicinity of what is now Codlea and Heldenburg was erected west of Marienburg, possibly north of Crizbav. Rucarburg could have been located in the soutwestern part of land, somewhere between Bran castle and the modern town of Rucar, while location of Kreuzburg is still a mystery, although it is often assumed to be located somewhere east of Teliu. Such location, although still nothing more than an educated guess, is logical, as such dislocation of fortifications would more or less correspond to the strategic points (mountain passes) on the perimeter of the Burzenland is roughly equal distance from each other.

Others, like Paul Niedermaier, suggest that Teutonic Order built aforementioned Marienburg, Kreuzburg and Rucarburg, but also gives it credit for the building of Kronstadt (near present city of Brasov) and Rosenau (later developed in what is now Rasnov Castle). Yet others, like Adrian Rusu suggests that the Teutonic Order could have built some castles in the Burzenland proper, acting as their base of operations, but also erected at least few castles on the other side of the mountains, possibly after defeating the Cumans in the region. Such idea is supported by those who suggest that Teutonic castles could have been located near modern Buzau, that is located almost 100 km southeast of Burzenland. Just for comparison, the area where Teutonic castles in Burzenland are usually though to be located is contained within a circle 40 km (24 miles) in diameter and centered on Brasov.

The Marienburg castle was selected as the administrative centre of the Hungarian holdings of the Teutonic Order and the prospective capital of the Teutonic Order State, quite fittingly, given the namesake of the Order. Please note that after expulsion from Hungary in 1225, Teutonic Order was invited into northern Poland in the very next year, what eventually led to the actual formation of the sovereign Teutonic Order State with the administrative centre being also named Marienburg (now Malbork, Poland).

It is also necessary to stress that the expansion of te Teutonic Order in Hungary and later in Prussia did not cause the entire Order to relocate, as the organizations activities in Holy Land, Hungary and Prussia were not 'stages' in the history of the Order but rather separate events. Failed attempt to create an Order State in Burzenland and the second, this time successful formation of such state in Prussia coincided with the existence of the Order's holdings in Palestine and the expansion of their lands in Western Europe. When Teutonic Knights arrived in Hungary in 1211, their Order had possessions in and around Acre as well as Sicily and Apulia (southeastern Italy). During their presence in Hungary, they will be expanded by additional benefices in northern Italy (Venetia, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli), western Holy Roman Empire (Hessen, Rheinland and Franconia) and even in Armenia (Amudain castle). In 1220s, Order also received further lands in Palestine, chiefly in Sidon, largely due to their contribution to the siege and capture of Damietta in 1221.