What were castles for?

Building castles

• As a rule, castles are the seat of a knight. Castles could be transferred in terms of ownership or built directly by oneself.
• There are different types of castles, which differ in terms of their location or their components. What they have in common, however, is a protective wall, which could also include various protective devices as well as mostly so-called keep. It was a residential and protective tower.
• Accordingly, castles could be subdivided into fortresses or court castles, each of which was used for protection or administration. The purpose of these buildings, however, was mostly the same.

What these fortifications were for

• Basically, it can be said for the Middle Ages that castles were used exclusively to protect the life of the lord of the castle. of the life of his family.
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• Because a castle was initially the retreat of the respective manager of a country estate or a town. If necessary, the rural population could of course also be accommodated within the walls.


What is a keep? - Interesting facts about the architecture of medieval castles

The keep is a widely visible part of medieval German ...

• Accordingly, one of the purposes of the sometimes large fortifications was not only to repel, but also to deter potential enemies. This was accompanied by the task of underpinning the claim to power and possibly maintaining a garrison with which claims could be implemented.
• In addition, it could of course also be used as a prison, for which wide vaults were essential.
• Because the bigger a castle, the more powerful the sovereign seemed with regard to his lands or army. The protection of castles continued up to gunpowder. Only then did these facilities lose their value.