A ridge castle (german: Kammburg) was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

fortification built on a ridge or the crest of mountain or hill chain.Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: ''Burgen des deutschen Mittelalters. Grundriss-Lexikon''. Flechsig, Würzburg 2000, , p. 18. It was one of several types of

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...

. Ridge castles were not a common type of fortification. While castles of this type were relatively well protected, they had the disadvantage that they could be attacked from two sides. The similar

spur castle A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where the spur joins the ...

, located at the end of a ridge, is protected by drop offs on three sides. For mutual protection, several such castles could be built within sight of one another. * The

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

Montfort Castle Montfort ( he, מבצר מונפור, Mivtzar Monfor; ar, قلعة القرين, ''Qal'at al-Qurain'' or ''Qal'at al-Qarn'' - "Castle of the Little Horn" or "Castle of the Horn") is a ruined Crusader castle in the Upper Galilee region in north ...

, Israel, is a narrow ridge castle that relies for its defence on the steep rocky hillsides, lacking many of the innovations of the larger crusader castles and resembling smaller German baronial castles.

Gallery

File:Burghausen - Hauptburg (2).JPG,

Burghausen Castle Burghausen Castle in Burghausen, Upper Bavaria, is the longest castle complex in the world (1051 m), confirmed by the Guinness World Record company. History The castle hill was settled as early as the Bronze Age. The castle (which was foun ...

, Bavaria, Germany File:Beckov castle.jpg, Beckov Castle, Slovakia File:Klis Fortress - a view from south-west.jpg,

Klis Fortress ) from Vrana, in the name of Bosnian King Tvrtko I * 1394–1401 Ban Nikola II Gorjanski in the name of Sigismund * 1401–1434 Croatian noble Prince Ivaniš Nelipić * 1434–1436 Croatian noble and Ban of Croatia Ivan Frankopan, at that ...

near

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

References

Literature

* Michael Losse: ''Kleine Burgenkunde''. Regionalia, Euskirchen 2011, . {{Fortifications Castles by type