Gräfenberg Castle (Forchheim)
Gräfenberg Castle (german: Burg Gräfenberg) is the older of two former castles in Gräfenberg in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in the south German state of Bavaria. Today, there is little left of the castle; it is classed as a ''burgstall A ''burgstall'' is a German term referring to a castle of which so little is left that its appearance cannot effectively be reconstructed.

Lowland Castle
The term lowland castle or plains castle (german: Niederungsburg, Flachlandburg, Tieflandburg) 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 about 34 percent of all castles are of the lowland type.Krahe, pp. 21-23 (2002) Because lowland castles do not have the defensive advantage of a site on higher ground, sites are chosen that are easy to defend, taking advantage, for example, of rivers, islands in lakes or marshes. Where such natural obstacles do not exist, artificially similar obstacles take on added significance. These include water-filled or dry moats, ramparts, palisades and curtain walls. In order to increase the height of the castle above the surrounding terrain, artificial earth mounds may be built (such as mottes), and fortified towers also fulfil this purpose. Castles of the Early Middle Ages (including Slavic an ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Burgstall
A ''burgstall'' is a German term referring to a castle of which so little is left that its appearance cannot effectively be reconstructed.''Burgstall''
in the ''Adelung'' at lexika.digitale-sammlungen.de It has no direct equivalent in English, but may be loosely translated as "castle site". Variations in the literature include ''Burgstelle'', ''Altburgstelle'', ''die Burgställe'' (plural), ''Burgstähl'' (archaic) or ''abgegangene Burg'' ("lost castle"). In German castle studies, a ''burgstall'' is a castle that has effectively been levelled, whereas a "ruin" (''Ruine'') still has recognisable remnants of the original castle above the level of the ground.

Definitions

The word ''burgstall'' is of medieval origin and comes from ''Burg'' = "castle" and ''Stelle'' = "plac ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Gräfenberg, Bavaria
Gräfenberg is a Franconian town in the district of Forchheim, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 16km southeast of Forchheim and 25km northeast of Nuremberg. Location Gräfenberg is located in the southern part of Little Switzerland. The town is characterised by a great range of elevation (from 400 to 550 metres). A brook, the Kalkach, flows through the town with a steep drop. Gräfenberg is divided into 16 districts: *The town Gräfenberg *Lilling *Hohenschwärz *Kasberg *Walkersbrunn *Dörnhof *Thuisbrunn *Höfles *Sollenberg *Rangen *Haidhof *Schlichenreuth *Guttenburg *Neusles *Lillinger Höhe *Gräfenberger Hüll Pictures Image:Stadtkirche-Rathaus-Gräfenberg-16-05-2005.jpeg, Town church and town hall image:Kriegerdenkmal-Gräfenberg-16-05-2005.jpeg, Memorial for the fallen of World War I and II above the town. Image:Gräfenberg Panorama 01.jpg, A panorama of the center and eastern part of Gräfenberg. Religion Gräfenberg is a majority Protestant town; even so, some ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, which are all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern (''Bavaria''). With more than 200 independent breweries which brew approximately 1000 different types of beer, Upper Franconia has the world's highest brewery-density per capita. A special Franconian beer route (''Fränkische Brauereistraße'') runs through many popular breweries. Geography The administrative region borders on Thuringia (''Thüringen'') to the north, Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') to the west, Middle Franconia (''Mittelfranken'') to the south-west, and Upper Palatinate (''Oberpfalz'') to the south-east, Saxony (''Sachsen'') to the north-east and the Czech Republic to the east. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bava ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Landkreis Forchheim
Forchheim is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Bamberg, Bayreuth, Nürnberger Land and Erlangen-Höchstadt. History Until 1803 the region was divided between the clerical state of Bamberg and the margravate of Brandenburg-Kulmbach centred in Bayreuth. Then it fell to Bavaria. The district in its present borders was established in 1972 by merging the former district of Forchheim with parts of the dissolved districts of Ebermannstadt and Pegnitz. The city of Forchheim lost its status as a district-free city and became the capital. Geography The main river is the Regnitz, which runs from south to north through the western parts of the district. East of the river the land rises to the hills of the Frankish Alb. Coat of arms The coat of arms displays: * the lion of the clerical state of Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz clo ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany. With over 13 million inhabitants, it is second in population only to North Rhine-Westphalia, but due to its large size its population density is below the German average. Bavaria's main cities are Munich (its capital and largest city and also the third largest city in Germany), Nuremberg, and Augsburg. The history of Bavaria includes its earliest settlement by Iron Age Celtic tribes, followed by the conquests of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, when the territory was incorporated into the provinces of Raetia and Noricum. It became the Duchy of Bavaria (a stem duchy) in the 6th century AD following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire, became an ind ...
[...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 # Burghausen Castle ('' in German'') # Castle Tuessling ('' in German'') Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen # Seeburg (Münsing) # Schloss Hohenburg # Hohenburg (Lenggries) (ruin) Berchtesgadener Land # Berchtesgaden Castle ('' de'') # Gruttenstein Castle ('' de'') # Burgruine Karlstein ('' de'') # Castle Laufen # Marzoll Palace ('' de'') # Raschenberg Castle ('' de'') # Staufeneck Castle ('' de'') Dac ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]