An imperial castle or ''Reichsburg'' was a castle built by order of the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

, whose management was entrusted to '' Reichsministeriales'' or ''

Burgmann From the 12th century in central Europe, a ''Burgmann'' (plural: ''Burgmannen'' or modern term ''Burgmänner'', Latin: ''oppidanus'', ''castrensus'') was a knight ministeriales or member of the nobility who was obliged to guard and defend castles. ...

en''. It is not possible to identify a clear distinction between imperial castles and the fortified imperial palaces or ''Pfalzen'', because many imperial castles were used by German kings for temporary stays. Many imperial castles were built in regions such as

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

, the Palatinate and the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, where there were a high density of imperial estates (''Reichsgüter'') during the

Hohenstaufen era The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

List of imperial castles (''Reichsburgen'')

France

Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

, Orschwiller,

Germany

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Grüningen Castle Grüningen is a town and municipality in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, notable for its well-preserved historic nucleus. History Grüningen is first mentioned in 1243 as ''apud Gruningin''. The village of Itzi ...

Markgröningen Markgröningen is a town in the district (Kreis) of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is known for its fine historic buildings, many in the ''Fachwerk'' German architectural style, and its annual Shepherds' Run. Markgröningen is on ...

Stettenfels Castle Stettenfels Castle is a medieval castle above the town of Untergruppenbach in Heilbronn. It was once owned by Hans Fugger and is now used for cultural events. History The castle was built in the 11th century, probably at about the same time ...

Untergruppenbach Untergruppenbach () is a municipality near Heilbronn, a city in the northern half of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. There are a total of 7,600 inhabitants living in six villages that form the municipality of Untergruppenbach. Approxim ...

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 lan ...

Nuremberg Castle Nuremberg Castle (german: Nürnberger Burg) is a group of medieval fortified buildings on a sandstone ridge dominating the historical center of Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The castle, together with the city walls, is considered to be one ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Harburg Castle Harburg Castle in Harburg, Bavaria, in the Donau-Ries district, is an extensive mediaeval complex from the 11th / 12th century. Originally it was a Staufer castle and was owned by the princely House of Oettingen-Wallerstein. Since 2000 the castle ...

, Harburg *

Königsberg Castle The Königsberg Castle (german: Königsberger Schloss, russian: Кёнигсбергский замок, Konigsbergskiy zamok) was a castle in Königsberg, Germany (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia), and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussi ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

Schwedenschanze Castle There are numerous prehistorical and early historical ringworks and fortification ramparts in Central Europe that have erroneously, usually colloquially, been given the name Schwedenschanze, which means "Swedish redoubt", a '' schanze'' being a ...

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script ***Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albanian ...

* Wildenberg Castle, Kirchzell

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

* Boyneburg,

Sontra Sontra is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany. The air spa of Sontra is known as ''Berg- und Hänselstadt'', with ''Bergstadt'' referring to the time when there was bituminous shale mining (“mining” is ''B ...

* Friedberg Castle, Friedberg *

Gelnhausen Palace Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. It is one of ...

Gelnhausen Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. It is one of ...

* Hayn Castle,

Dreieich Dreieich () is a town in the Offenbach district in the of Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and is located roughly south of downtown Frankfurt am Main. With a population of more than 40,000 ...

enhain * Kalsmunt Castle,

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

Münzenberg Castle Münzenberg Castle (German. ''Burg Münzenberg'') is a ruined hill castle in the town of the same name in the Wetteraukreis, Hesse, Germany. It dates from the 12th century. It is one of the best preserved castles from the High Middle Ages in Germ ...

Münzenberg Münzenberg is a town in the Wetteraukreis district in Hesse, Germany. It is located 13 km north of Friedberg, and 16 km southeast of Gießen. Münzenberg Castle Münzenberg Castle (German. ''Burg Münzenberg'') is a ruined hill castl ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

* Harliburg,

Vienenburg Vienenburg is a borough of Goslar, capital of the Goslar (district), Goslar district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The former independent municipality was incorporated in Goslar on 1 January 2014. Geography It is situated in the north of the Harz mou ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

* Berenstein Castle, Bergstein

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Berwartstein Castle Berwartstein Castle (German: Burg Berwartstein) is a castle in the Wasgau, the southern part of the Palatinate Forest in the state Rhineland-Palatinate in southwestern Germany. It was one of the rock castles that were part of defences of the P ...

Erlenbach bei Dahn Erlenbach bei Dahn is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Above the village is Berwartstein Castle on one side of the Erlenbach stream and the outwork Little France Little France is a suburb of ...

* Cochem Castle,

Cochem Cochem is the seat of and the biggest town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With just over 5,000 inhabitants, Cochem falls just behind Kusel, in the Kusel district, as Germany's second smallest district seat. Since 7 J ...

* Guttenberg Castle, Oberotterbach *

Hammerstein Castle Hammerstein is a municipality on the river Rhine in the district of Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous co ...

Hammerstein Hammerstein is a municipality on the river Rhine in the district of Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous co ...

* Landeck Castle,

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

* Landskron Castle, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler *

Lindelbrunn Castle Lindelbrunn Castle (german: Burg Lindelbrunn) (also called Lindelbol, Lindelbronn or Lindelborn) is the medieval ruin of a rock castle near the village of Vorderweidenthal in the county of Südliche Weinstraße in the German state of Rhineland-P ...

, Vorderweidenthal *

Meistersel Castle Meistersel Castle is a ruined castle near Ramberg on the outskirts of the Palatinate Forest in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located on a 492-metre-high hilltop that towers above the Modenbach valley near the Three Beeches pass ('' Drei ...

, Ramberg * Ramburg, Ramberg *

Trifels Castle Trifels Castle (german: Reichsburg Trifels) is a reconstructed medieval castle at an elevation of near the small town of Annweiler, in the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany. It is located high above the Queich valley within the Palatin ...

Annweiler Annweiler am Trifels (), or Annweiler is a town in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Queich, 12 km west of Landau. Annweiler am Trifels station is on the Landau–Saarbrücken r ...

Wegelnburg The Wegelnburg is a ruined castle near Schönau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Schönau in the Palatinate Forest in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. Its location is at a height of 572m, making it the highest ruined castle in th ...

, Schönau * Wildburg,

Sargenroth Sargenroth is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Simmer ...

* Berenstein Castle

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

Kirkel Castle Kirkel is a municipality in the Saarpfalz district in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximatively 8 km southeast of Neunkirchen, and 20 km east/northeast of Saarbrücken. Overview A rather well-preserved castle ruin is located ...

Neuhäusel Neuhäusel is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The community has been since early 2006 a major investment and activity centre for village renewal ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

Kyffhausen Castle The Imperial Castle of Kyffhausen (german: Reichsburg Kyffhausen) is a medieval castle ruin, situated in the Kyffhäuser hills in the German state of Thuringia, close to its border with Saxony-Anhalt. Probably founded about 1000, it superseded th ...

, Steinthaleben

Switzerland

* Gümmenen Castle, Gümmenen, Canton Berne *

Nydegg Castle The Nydegg is a historic section in the Old City of Bern in Bern, Switzerland. The first expansion of Bern occurred as the city was founded in 1191. At the east end of the central and oldest neighbourhood, the ''Zähringerstadt'' ( Zähringe ...

Berne german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, Canton Berne * Weissenau Castle,

Unterseen , neighboring_municipalities= Beatenberg, Därligen, Habkern, Interlaken, Leissigen, Ringgenberg , twintowns = } Unterseen is a historic town and a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton o ...

, Canton Berne

Sources

* Horst Wolfgang Böhme, Reinhard Friedrich, Barbara Schock-Werner (Hrsg.): ''Wörterbuch der Burgen, Schlösser und Festungen''. Philipp Reclam, Stuttgart 2004, , p. 208.

External links

{{Portal bar, Architecture, Holy Roman Empire