A ''dirnitz'' (german: Dürnitz or ''Türnitz'', from the Slavic ''dorniza'' = "heated parlour") or Knights' Hall was the heatable area of a

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

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

. It was usually a single large room on the ground floor of the ''

palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval ''Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, ...

'' below the

Great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great ...

. It was often expensively furnished and had a decorative

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

. Occasionally it also described the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

(''Kemenate'') or an entire hall building. The term is German. From the mid-15th century, the ''dirnitz'', if used as a reception or gathering room or as a courtroom, was sometimes also called a courtroom (''Hofstube''). Typical examples of a ''dirnitz'' may be seen at the

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the p ...

and

Heinfels Castle Burg Heinfels is a castle in Heinfels, Tyrol, Austria. History Heinfels stands in the Puster Valley, near the entrance to the Villgraten Valley. Although the town was first settled by Huns around 500AD, a castle was not mentioned until 1243.

. The ''dirnitz'' at

Burghausen Castle Burghausen Castle in Burghausen, Upper Bavaria, is the longest castle complex in the world (1051 m), confirmed by the Guinness World Record company. History The castle hill was settled as early as the Bronze Age. The castle (which was found ...

is one of the rare examples where the heatable hall is on an upper storey.

Literature

* Horst Wolfgang Böhme, Reinhard Friedrich,

Barbara Schock-Werner Barbara Schock-Werner (born 23 July 1947, Ludwigsburg) is a German architect, and was until her retirement end of August 2012 the master builder at Cologne Cathedral with overall responsibility for conservation and restoration work. With the offic ...

(ed.): ''Wörterbuch der Burgen, Schlösser und Festungen''. Philipp Reclam, Stuttgart, 2004, , p. 113. {{castle-stub Castle architecture