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Neu-Signau Castle
Neu-Signau Castle (german: Burg Neu-Signau) is a ruined castle in the municipality of Bowil in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History The castle was built to replace Alt-Signau Castle as the residence of the Barons of Signau. It was intended to protect and control the road between the Emmental and Aare river valley. In 1826 the castle was demolished. Location and description The castle is situated on a conglomerate spur above Bowil village. On an opposite hill, across the valley are the ruins of Alt-Signau Castle. Today, only a few traces of the castle can be seen. See also * List of castles in Switzerland This list includes castles and fortresses in Switzerland. Entries list the name and location of the castle, fortress or ruins in each Canton in Switzerland. Aargau Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden Basel-Landschaft, Bas ... References * Burgenkarte der Schweiz - West: , Bundesamt für Landestopografie swisstopo, 2007 * External l ...
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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 charact ...
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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 hill from which it projects. By contrast, a ridge castle is only protected by steep terrain on two sides. Description A spur castle was one of several types of hill castle. Depending on the local topography, a spur castle may have relied mainly on its inaccessible position or may have integrated further features such as shield walls and towers into the defences. In addition castle builders may have improved the natural defences of the terrain by hewing into them to make the hillsides harder to climb and reduce the risk of landslide. A classic feature is the neck ditch, cutting off the spur from the rest of the hill. A long spur castle is sometimes, but not always, subdivided into a lower ward and a more strongly defended upper ward (or e ...
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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 ...
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Bowil
Bowil is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Bowil is first mentioned in 1299 as ''Bonwile''. The village was once part of the ''Herrschaft'' of Signau and the Freiherren of Signau built their castles, Alt-Signau and Neu-Signau, between Bowil and Signau villages. Today, the municipal border has been redrawn and the ruins of both castles are in Bowil. During the Middle Ages, Bowil was part of the lands of the Freiherr of Signau, but other distant landowners and local farmers owned rights or property in the village. In 1528, Bern adopted the Protestant Reformation and Bowil quickly followed. However, in the following years, it became a haven for Anabaptists. In 1720, to try to convert the Anabaptists to the Swiss Reformed faith, Bern established a filial church in the village. In 1930 that church became a parish church over the parish of Bowil-Oberthal. Traditionally the village economy relied on sub ...
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Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire and in its various successor states, including Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, etc. Traditionally, it denotes the titled royal and noble ranks, rank within the nobility above ' (knight) and ' (nobility without a specific title) and below ' (count, count, earl). The title superseded the earlier medieval form, '. It corresponds approximately to the English ''baron'' in rank. The Duden orthography of the German language references the French nobility title of ''Baron'', deriving from the latin-germanic combination ''liber baro'' (which also means "free lord"), as corresponding to the German "Freiherr"; and that ''Baron'' is a corresponding salutation for a ''Freiherr''.Duden; Definition of ''Baron, der'' (in German)/ref> ...
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Canton Of Bern
The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the canton, displayed on a red-yellow background. Comprising ten districts, Bern is the second-largest canton by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it is surrounded by eleven cantons. It borders the canton of Jura and the canton of Solothurn to the north. To the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and canton of Vaud. To the south lies the canton of Valais. East of the canton of Bern lie the cantons of Uri, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Lucerne and Aargau. The geography of the canton includes a large share of all three natural regions of Switzerland: the Jura Mountains (the Bernese Jura), the Swiss Plateau (the Bernese Mittelland) and the Alps (th ...
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Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen a.o.). , coordinates = , largest_city = Zürich , official_languages = , englishmotto = "One for all, all for one" , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , religion = , demonym = , german: Schweizer/Schweizerin, french: Suisse/Suissesse, it, svizzero/svizzera or , rm, Svizzer/Svizra , government_type = Federalism, Federal assembly-independent Directorial system, directorial republic with elements of a direct democracy , leader_title1 = Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = Walter Thurnherr , legislature = Fe ...
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Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, but lower than a viscount or count. Often, barons hold their fief – their lands and income – directly from the monarch. Barons are less often the vassals of other nobles. In many kingdoms, they were entitled to wear a smaller form of a crown called a ''coronet''. The term originates from the Latin term , via Old French. The use of the title ''baron'' came to England via the Norman Conquest of 1066, then the Normans brought the title to Scotland and Italy. It later spread to Scandinavia and Slavic lands. Etymology The word '' baron'' comes from the Old French , from a Late Latin "man; servant, soldier, mercenary" (so used in Salic law; Alemannic law has in the same sense). The scholar Isidore of Seville in the 7th century t ...
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Emmental
The Emmental ( en, Emme Valley) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme and Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to farming, particularly dairy farming. The principal settlements are the town of Burgdorf and the village of Langnau. Comprising Burgdorf, Trachselwald, and Signau districts in the canton of Bern, the Emmental became part of the Emmental-Oberaargau administrative region on 1 January 2010. The district of Fraubrunnen is divided between Emmental and Bern-Mittelland. Geography The region comprises relatively low mountains on the right bank of the Aare. It includes the basins of the Emme and the Ilfis between Burgdorf and the boundary with the canton of Solothurn. Its principal elevation is the Napf, a mountain massif dominating the northwestern part of the Emmental Alps. The landscape is dominated by meadows and pastureland, with forest interspersed. Economy T ...
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Aare
The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descends , draining an area of , almost entirely within Switzerland, and accounting for close to half the area of the country, including all of Central Switzerland. There are more than 40 hydroelectric plants along the course of the Aare. The river's name dates to at least the La Tène period, and it is attested as ''Nantaror'' "Aare valley" in the Berne zinc tablet. The name was Latinized as ''Arula''/''Arola''/''Araris''. Course The Aare rises in the great Aargletschers (Aare Glaciers) of the Bernese Alps, in the canton of Bern and west of the Grimsel Pass. The Finsteraargletscher and Lauteraargletscher come together to form the Unteraargletscher (Lower Aar Glacier), which is the main source of water for the Grimselsee (Lake of Grim ...
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Conglomerate (geology)
Conglomerate () is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed of a substantial fraction of rounded to subangular gravel-size clasts. A conglomerate typically contains a matrix of finer-grained sediments, such as sand, silt, or clay, which fills the interstices between the clasts. The clasts and matrix are typically cemented by calcium carbonate, iron oxide, silica, or hardened clay. Conglomerates form by the consolidation and lithification of gravel. They can be found in sedimentary rock sequences of all ages but probably make up less than 1 percent by weight of all sedimentary rocks. In terms of origin and depositional mechanisms, they are closely related to sandstones and exhibit many of the same types of sedimentary structures, e.g., tabular and trough cross-bedding and graded bedding.Boggs, S. (2006) ''Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy.'', 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, New York. 662 pp. Friedman, G.M. (2003) ''Classification of sediments and sedimentary rocks.'' In G ...
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Alt-Signau Castle
Alt-Signau Castle (german: Ruine Alt-Signau) is a ruined castle in the municipality of Bowil in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History The castle was the ancestral home of the Barons of Signau. The family was first mentioned in 1130 when Werner von Signau appeared in a historical record. The castle was designed to protect and control the road between the Emmental and the Aare river. In the mid-14th century the castle was abandoned when the family moved to Neu-Signau Castle on a hill across the valley. The ruin is relatively well preserved. See also * List of castles in Switzerland This list includes castles and fortresses in Switzerland. Entries list the name and location of the castle, fortress or ruins in each Canton in Switzerland. Aargau Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden Basel-Landschaft, Bas ... References * Burgenkarte der Schweiz - West: , Bundesamt für Landestopografie swisstopo, 2007 External links * History of Signau from ...
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