|
Reipoltskirchen Castle
Reipoltskirchen Castle (german: Wasserburg Reipoltskirchen) is a water castle in the parish of Reipoltskirchen in the county of Kusel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is one of the best preserved water castles in the Palatinate region. The castle stands at a height of 208 metres above sea level (NN) on the site of an artificially created earth hillock around a rock spur on the Odenbach river. History As early as 1198, the first related nobleman, Meffried of Reipoltskirchen, is mentioned, so the castle could have existed at that time. However, the first record of a castle in Reipoltskirchen, ''castro Ripoltskirchen'', does not appear until 1276, when the fortification came into the possession of Theoderich (Dietrich) of Hohenfels. The "von Hohenfels" were a branch of the lords of Bolanden, who later called themselves "lords of Reipoltskirchen" in a new branch of the Hohenfels family. When the Hohenfels family seat was destroyed in 1351, the family of the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
