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Waischenfeld Castle
Waischenfeld Castle () is a ruined rock castle on a rocky plateau a few metres west of the town of Waischenfeld in the province of Upper Franconia in the German state of Bavaria. History The first clues to a castle in the village of Waischenfeld date to 1079, when ''Wirint von Waischenfeld'' was mentioned in the records as a member of an important noble family in the area of the middle Wiesent (Regnitz), Wiesent. The Waischenfelds were related to the dynastic family of the lords of House of Aufseß, Aufseß. The hill castle was first recorded in 1122 as ''Urbs''. Following the death of Ulrich of Waischenfeld, the last in the Waischenfeld family line, in 1216 the castle and lordship of Waischenfeld went to Eberhard III of House of Schlüsselberg, Greifenstein, who built a new fortress south of Waischenfeld, Schlüsselberg Castle. After the death of Conrad II of Schlüsselberg, the castle and town of Waischenfeld went in 1348 into the hands of the Bishopric of Bamberg. In 1430 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 are thus distinguished from lowland castles (''Niederungsburgen''). Hill castles may be further subdivided depending on their situation into the following: * Hilltop castle (''Gipfelburg''), that stands on the summit of a hill with steep drops on all sides. A special type is the rock castle or ''Felsenburg''. * Ridge castle (''Kammburg''), that is built on the crest of a ridge. * Hillside castle (''Hangburg''), that is built on the side of a hill and thus is dominated by rising ground on one side. * Spur castle (''Spornburg''), that is built on a hill spur surrounded by steep terrain on three sides and thus only needs to be defended on the one remaining side. When in the 10th and 11th centuries castles lost their pure fortress character a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Margrave War
The Second Margrave War () was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, who was attempting to form a Duchy of Franconia under his rule, the war resulted in widespread devastation in Franconia, while also affecting the Rhineland and Lower Saxony. Origins The First Margrave War, which Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg had waged primarily against his neighbors, including the Imperial City of Nuremberg, was not directly related to the Second Margrave War. What the two wars had in common was the Margraves' attempt to expand their influence in Franconia and assert claims against their regional competitor, Nuremberg. As Albert's Protestant faith legitimized his lucrative plunder of Brandenburg-Kulmbach's Catholic neighbors, the war can generally be seen as an outgrowth of the Second Schmalkaldic War. War Albert's first targets were Brandenburg-Kulmbach's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castles In Bavaria
Numerous castles are found in the German state of Bavaria. These buildings, some of which have a history of over 1,000 years, were the setting for historical events, domains of famous personalities, and are still imposing structures to this day. This list encompasses castles described in German as ''Burg'' (castle), ''Festung'' (fort/fortress), ''Schloss'' (manor house) and ''Palais''/''Palast'' (palace). Many German castles after the Middle Ages were built mainly as royal or noble residences rather than as fortified buildings. Regierungsbezirk Oberbayern Altötting (district), Altötting # Burghausen Castle ('':de:Burg zu Burghausen, in German'') # Castle Tuessling ('':de:Schloss Tüßling, in German'') Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen # Seeburg (Münsing) # Schloss Hohenburg # Hohenburg (Lenggries) (ruin) Berchtesgadener Land # Berchtesgaden Castle ('':de:Königliches Schloss Berchtesgaden, de'') # Gruttenstein Castle ('':de:Burg Gruttenstein, de'') # Burgruine Karlstein ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hill Castles
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 are thus distinguished from lowland castles (''Niederungsburgen''). Hill castles may be further subdivided depending on their situation into the following: * Hilltop castle (''Gipfelburg''), that stands on the summit of a hill with steep drops on all sides. A special type is the rock castle or ''Felsenburg''. * Ridge castle (''Kammburg''), that is built on the crest of a ridge. * Hillside castle (''Hangburg''), that is built on the side of a hill and thus is dominated by rising ground on one side. * Spur castle (''Spornburg''), that is built on a hill spur surrounded by steep terrain on three sides and thus only needs to be defended on the one remaining side. When in the 10th and 11th centuries castles lost their pure fortress characte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Castles
A rock castle () is a type of medieval castle that directly incorporates natural rock outcrops into its defences to such an extent that the rock formations define the structure of the castle. Topographically, rock castles are classified as hill castles. Layout By contrast with the usual hill castles, that utilize the bedrock as a foundation for the individual buildings, the entire structure of rock castles is shaped by natural, often isolated rock formations, such as rock towers or crags. Typically a rock castle was built on a rock that was able to provide a fortified position without any great additions. In simple fortifications of this type the rock could be climbed on simple ladders that were hoisted up in times of danger. Rock castles would also have wooden and stone structures built on or against them. The morphological characteristics of the rock were crucial to the extent and nature of any structures. The rock on which the castle stands is always incorporated into its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elevated Entrance
An elevated entrance is a type of entrance, common in the design of medieval castles, that is not accessible from ground level, but lies at the level of an upper storey. The elevated entrance is the lowest and frequently the only way of entering a fortified building or residence. In the case of circular towers, a large opening in the main wall at ground level was a potential weakness and experts on castle design have argued that the elevated entrance served a structural as well as defensive purpose. Elevated entrances were also used in Classical antiquity, Antiquity. For example, the numerous ''Limes (Roman Empire), limes'' watchtowers only had this type of entrance. The elevated entrance in medieval castles The majority of elevated entrances were between five and ten metres above the ground level and facing the courtyard side in order to protect them from shell fire. Several examples were located in rather unsuitable places, however, for example above the outside of a cas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Watchtower
A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are built in areas of established control. These include military bases, cities occupied by military forces, prisons and more. A common equipment is searchlights. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military/policiary and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may observe the surrounding area. In some cases, non-military towers, such as religious towers, may also be used as watchtowers. Similar constructions include: observation towers, which are generally civilian structures, and control towers, used on airports or harbours. History Military watchtowers The Romans built numerous towers as part of a sys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bergfried
''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German influence. Stephen Friar in the ''Sutton Companion to Castles'' describes a bergfried as a "free-standing, fighting-tower".Friar (2003), p 36. Its defensive function is to some extent similar to that of a keep (also known as a ''donjon'') in English or French castles. However, the characteristic difference between a bergfried and a keep is that a bergfried was typically not designed for permanent habitation. Overview The living quarters of a castle with a bergfried are separate, often in a lower tower or an adjacent building called a ''palas'' (an English-style keep combines both functions of habitation and defence.) Consequently, a bergfried could be built as a tall slender tower with little internal room, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Round Tower
A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fulfil different functions. Shape of towers Rectangular towers Square or rectangular towers are easy to construct and give a good amount of usable internal space. Their disadvantage is that the corners are vulnerable to mining (military), mining. Despite this vulnerability, rectangular towers continued to be used, and Muslim military architecture generally favoured them.Kennedy (2000). Round towers Round towers, also called drum towers, are more resistant to siege technology such as sappers and projectiles than square towers. The round front is more resistant than the straight side of a square tower, just as a load-bearing arch. This principle was already understood in antiquity. Hors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franconia
Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franconia in Bavaria, the adjacent, East Franconian, Franconian-speaking South Thuringia, south of the Thuringian Forest—which constitutes the language boundary between Franconian and Thuringian—and the eastern parts of Heilbronn-Franconia in Baden-Württemberg. Those parts of the Vogtland lying in Saxony (largest city: Plauen) are sometimes regarded as Franconian as well, because the Vogtlandian dialects are mostly East Franconian. The inhabitants of Saxon Vogtland, however, mostly do not consider themselves Franconian. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Hessian dialect, Hessian-speaking parts of Lower Franconia west of the Spessart (largest city: Aschaffenburg) do consider themselves Franconian, although not speaking the dialect. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hochstift
In the Holy Roman Empire, the German language, German term (plural: ) referred to the territory ruled by a bishop as a prince (i.e. prince-bishop), as opposed to his diocese, generally much larger and over which he exercised only spiritual authority. The terms prince-bishopric (, or simply ) and ecclesiastical principality are synonymous with . and referred respectively to the territory (prince-archbishopric) ruled by a prince-archbishop and an elector-archbishop while referred to the territory ruled by an imperial abbot or abbess, or a Prince-abbot, princely abbot or abbess. was also often used to refer to any type of ecclesiastical principality. Names ''Das Stift'' [plural: ''die Stifte'' or, in some regions, ''die Stifter'']/''het sticht'' [in Dutch] (literally, the "donation"), denotes in its original meaning the donated or else acquired fund of estates whose revenues are taken to maintain a College (canon law), college and the pertaining church (''Stiftskirche'', i.e. c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
