Zülpich Castle or the Electoral Cologne Sovereign Castle of Zülpich () is the landmark and symbol of the town of

Zülpich Zülpich (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen. History The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for the Battle of T ...

in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. Its origins may be traced to a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

''. The present site was built in the late 14th century as a symbol of sovereignty and outpost of the

archbishops of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Colog ...

against the

County of Jülich A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) ''Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denotin ...

. Razed by French troops at the end of the 17th century, the ruins of the

lowland castle The term lowland castle or plains castle () describes a type of castle that is situated on a lowland, plain or valley floor, as opposed to one built on higher ground such as a hill spur. The classification is extensively used in Germany where ...

ended up in private hands. The Zülpich manufacturing family of Sieger opened a

schnaps Schnapps ( or ) or schnaps is a type of alcoholic beverage that may take several forms, including distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and "flavored liqueurs" made by adding fruit syrups, spices, or artificial flavorings to n ...

distillery in the castle until 1870 that operated until the 1980s. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was badly damaged, was partly rebuilt in the 1950s and acts today as a tourist information bureau and home of the Zülpich History Society.

Description

Zülpich Castle is a modest

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

building with an almost rectangular plan with high towers at the corners. It is one of the classic

quadrangular castle A quadrangular castle or courtyard castle is a type of castle characterised by ranges of buildings which are integral with the curtain walls, enclosing a central ward or quadrangle, and typically with angle towers. There is no keep and frequent ...

s of a type ideal for the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. Its austere-looking defences are almost entirely devoid of architectural features and underline its

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

-like character which befits its location at the southwestern corner of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

town of Zülpich and its incorporation into the town's fortifications. Burg Zuelpich Hauptportal 19

The enclosed quadrangular structure was originally surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

up to twelve metres wide. At its southern, western and eastern corners are

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 ...

s that were all once four storeys high. The southern one was reduced to two storeys high in the 19th century as it had fallen into disrepair. In the north and at right angles is a square tower measuring 10×10 metres with corner ashlars that is the only survivor of an older castle. Its shape clearly shows that it was given its present appearance in the 17th century. The two full-height round towers are topped by protruding, open

fighting platform A fighting platform or terraceKaufmann, J.E. and Kaufmann, H.W (2001). ''The Medieval Fortress'', Cambridge, Massachusetts, Da Capo, p. 29. . is the uppermost defensive platform of an ancient or medieval gateway, tower (such as the fighting platfo ...

s with brick

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

s. The

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

s also use

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrus ...

as a material, while the ogival arched

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

above is made of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

. All the round corner towers once had residential rooms with fireplaces and

garderobe Garderobe is a historic term for a room in a medieval castle. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives as its first meaning a store-room for valuables, but also acknowledges "by extension, a private room, a bed-chamber; also a privy". The word der ...

s. In the walls (which are up to three metres thick) are

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

s. The western tower facing the town also acted as a

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

. The four wings were formerly two-storey residential ranges with high basement vaults. Today only the thick outside walls have survived; these served a dual purpose as

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with t ...

s with projecting chemins de ronde. The remaining structure of the present-day wing dates to a later period because the original roofs and interior walls from the 17th century have not survived. The external façade of the southwest wall is divided into regular axes by high, narrow, Gothic rectangular windows with lighter cut stone frames that are only interrupted by two garerobes. The best preserved exterior wall is on the southeast side with the main

gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root w ...

made from carefully cut

bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

s to which the

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

used to lead. Witnesses thereof are a deep

blind niche In architecture, a niche (CanE, or ) is a recess or cavity constructed in the thickness of a wall for the reception of decorative objects such as statues, busts, urns, and vases. In Classical architecture examples are an exedra or an apse that ...

, which frames the ogival arch of the gateway and used to house the drawbridge, and the still visible roller holes for the chains. Above the portal are two angled coats of arms whose details were probably destroyed by French soldiers in 1794. They used to depict the arms of Frederick of Saarwerden and probably the Archbishopric of Cologne. In addition there is another drawbridge on the southwest side, which gave access to the castle without having to enter the town. For the support buttresses of this bridge, building material from Jülich Palace was used, a building that had stood on the same spot since 1350.

References

P. Clemen: ''Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Euskirchen'', p. 225. R. Janke, H. Herzog: ''Burgen und Schlösser im Rheinland'', p. 67. D. Holterman, H. Herzog: ''Die Euskirchener Burgenrunde'', p. 99. Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: ''Burgen des deutschen Mittelalters. Grundriss-Lexikon''. Flechsig, Wurzburg, 2000, , p. 688. P. Clemen: ''Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Euskirchen'', p. 228. H. Herzog: ''Mauern, Türme und Ruinen'', p. 12. P. Clemen: ''Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Euskirchen'', p. 227.

Literature

Paul Clemen Paul Clemen (31 October 1866 – 8 July 1947) was a German art historian known in particular for his large inventory of monuments in the Rhineland area, many of which were destroyed or severely damaged in World War II. Clemen was born in Leipzi ...

(ed.): ''Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Euskirchen''. L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1900 (''Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz''. Vol. 4, Part. 4), pp. 223–228
online
. * Harald Herzog: ''Mauern, Türme und Ruinen. Ein Wanderführer zu Burgen und Schlössern im Kreis Euskirchen''. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne,1990, , S. 10–14. * Dirk Holterman, Harald Herzog: ''Die Euskirchener Burgenrunde. Radeln zwischen Erft und Eifel''. Rau, Düsseldorf, 2000, , pp. 98–99

. * Robert Janke, Harald Herzog: ''Burgen und Schlösser im Rheinland''. Greven, Cologne, 2005, , p. 67.

External links

Website of the castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zulpich Castle Gothic architecture in Germany Heritage sites in North Rhine-Westphalia Castles in the Eifel Electorate of Cologne Buildings and structures in Euskirchen (district)