Hermann Castle ( et, Hermanni linnus, russian: Замок Герман; also known as Hermannsfeste, Herman Castle, Narva Castle (russian: На́рвский за́мок), and Narva fortress) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 5 ...

, eastern

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

. It was founded in 1256 by the

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

and the first stone castle was built in the beginning of the 14th century. The German

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after th ...

purchased the castle on 29 August 1346, and owned it for much of its history.

Medieval fortifications

Although the exact age of Narva Castle and the town still causes arguments between historians, they agree on the following sequence of events. Initially, the Danes, who had conquered Northern Estonia (see Danish Estonia) built a wooden border stronghold at the intersection of the

Narva River The river Narva ( et, Narva jõgi; russian: Нарва), formerly also Narova flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer interme ...

and an old road circa the 13th century. Under the protection of the stronghold, the earlier settlement developed into the town of

, which obtained the Lübeck town rights in the first half of the 14th century. Following several conflicts with the Russians, the Danes started building a stone stronghold at the beginning of the 14th century as a border defense. It was initially a small

castellum A ''castellum'' in Latin is usually: * a small Roman fortlet or tower,C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War; 2,30 a diminutive of (' military camp'), often used as a watchtower or signal station like on Hadrian's Wall. It should be distinguished from ...

-like building with sides and a tower, a predecessor of the today's Herman Tower, at its northwestern corner. At the beginning of the 14th century, a small forecourt was established at the north side of the stronghold and, in the middle of the century, a large forecourt was added to the west side, where citizens were allowed to hide in case of war, as the town of Narva was not surrounded by a wall during Danish rule. In 1347 King

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance ...

sold Northern Estonia, including Narva, to the

, who rebuilt the building into a convent building according to their needs. The stronghold has for the most part preserved the original ground plan, with its massive wings and a courtyard in the middle. The Herman Tower was also completed at the time of the Order, necessitated by the establishment of Ivangorod Castle by the Russians on the opposite side of the Narva River in 1492. The Order surrounded the town with a wall, which unfortunately has not been preserved (in 1777 there was an order to pull it down). The wall is described as having had four gates: the Viru Gate in the west, the Herd (Karja) Gate in the north, the Old (Vana) Gate leading to the river port in the east and the Water (Vee) or Small (Väike) Gate in the south. The gates were covered with iron plates and preceded by drawbridges. The town wall, with a length of roughly a kilometer, was fortified with at least seven towers, and was surrounded by a moat. Towards the end of the Order's period, the town wall was supplemented, the gates were strengthened by adding foregates, and several medieval wall towers were adapted to use as special cannon towers or rondels, two of which can be seen today in their reconstructed shape in the corners of the castle's western court. Ivangorod Fortress opposite the Narva Hermann Castle

Ivangorod Fortress opposite the Narva Hermann Castle

External links

Narva fortifications and Narva Castle

View of Hermann Castle and Ivangorod Fortress (WebCam)
balticlivecam.com
The Association of Castles and Museums around the Baltic Sea
{{Castles in Estonia Buildings and structures in Narva Castles in Estonia Museums in Estonia Castles of the Livonian Order Buildings and structures in Ida-Viru County 1256 establishments in Europe Gothic architecture in Estonia Tourist attractions in Ida-Viru County

Medieval fortifications

See also

External links