A ''dirnitz'' ( or ''Türnitz'', from the

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

''dorniza'' = "heated parlour", Danish: ''Dørns'', North Frisian: ''dörnsch'' or ''dörnsk''Snaak Friisk, Interfrisisk leksikon, Nordfriisk Instituut, Bräist/Bredsted 2010) 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 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 ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

. 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. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...

. 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 (enclosur ...

. 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 * Filin ...

(''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 ...

and

Heinfels Castle Heinfels Castle is an extensive hilltop castle complex above Heinfels in East Tyrol. The strategically well-situated fortification at 1130 metres above sea level is a striking landmark of the eastern Puster Valley. From the castle you have a wide v ...

. 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, and the third largest. The castle is therefore also among the largest palaces in the world. ...

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.

References

Castle architecture {{castle-stub