Secret passage
Secret passages are hidden passages or tunnels , which in Europe, especially during the Middle Ages , usually gave an escape from a fortification or access to a hiding place. Usually these are underground passages, which were designed according to the environment. They can be made from loess , as well as in a brick-lined form or as a natural cavity. There are only a few secret passages carved out of the rock, because the means available during the Middle Ages for building a rock passage were modest compared to today's technology, and such work was therefore difficult and tedious.
Archaeologically developed secret passages
In Germany, historically or archaeologically, at most a dozen secret passages are known, and these are kept as short as possible. Most of the time, they led to the outside, directly behind the ringing of the system, at a point not visible to attackers. The few known long corridors were either siege tunnels, counter tunnels or water tunnels. There are still no examples of long connecting corridors that may even have crossed under watercourses. The stories about it all come from the imagination of authors and storytellers from the age of castle romanticism . A secret passage is said to lead from Hohenstaufen Castle to the former Filseck Castle . This would have to cross under the Filstal , be nine kilometers long and overcome about 350 meters difference in altitude. An allegedly secret escape tunnel in Lichtenstein Castle also ultimately turned out to be a natural cave, and the secret passage from the chapel of Wildenstein Castle near Leibertingen , which has been rumored again and again , is much more likely simply a basement.
More interesting from a cultural and historical point of view than the construction and nature of these secret passages are the legends that surround them. Mostly they are associated with medieval castles or monasteries . It is not uncommon for a treasure to be found hidden there. In many places there are reports of secret passages that are said to have been accessible “in childhood” just a few years ago, but this can only be verified in the rarest of cases. Sometimes it is about old sewer systems or tunnel mouth holes from mining.
Examples of actually existing secret passages were or are at Altwindstein Castle in Alsace , the Dilsberg mountain fortress near Heidelberg, as well as at the Predjama cave castle and at Sigmaringen Castle . In the Burg Lauenstein there is a secret passage, whose input is the inner wall of a closet. However, the passage has partially collapsed and it is no longer known where it originally led.
An unusual secret passage for the Middle Ages is the Passetto di Borgo , which looks like an ordinary wall on the outside and connects the Vatican with Castel Sant'Angelo . Inside there is an escape passage.
Secret passages in modern architecture
In addition, some modern castles and palaces have secret passages in the thick walls. Together with corresponding secret doors , these served the residents to move unseen between the rooms and were already included in the planning by the architect during the construction of the building. For example, the Doge's Palace in Venice has such secret connecting passages.
There was also a secret underground passage between the Berlin City Palace and its stables . This was continued to be used by the government of the GDR after the castle was torn down and the Palace of the Republic was built . A Stasi unit stationed in the stables monitored what was going on in and around the palace. At the demonstrations during the celebrations of the GDR's 40th birthday, Stasi teams were able to appear surprisingly from an unexpected direction.
The escape tunnels in Berlin during the division of Germany , the Sarajevo tunnel in the Bosnian war, or the smuggling tunnels on the border of the Gaza Strip, Palestine and the Mexican-American border, are also historical secret passages .
Secret passages as a subject in literature
In literature - especially in horror literature - secret connecting routes, secret passages and secret doors often appear as central elements of the plot. Examples can be found among others at E. Marlitt ( The secret of the old Mamsell , The woman with the carbuncle stones ) and Hedwig Courths-Mahler ( Griseldis ).
literature
- Herbert de Caboga: The castle in the Middle Ages. History and forms . Ullstein, Frankfurt / Main [et al.] 1982, ISBN 3-548-36068-8 , pp. 71-73.
- Otto Piper : Castle studies . Reprint of the 3rd edition from 1912. Weltbild, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-89350-554-7 , pp. 515-523.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Joachim Zeune: Knight castles. Building, domination, culture. CH Beck, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-406-66091-7 , p. 127.
- ↑ stadtschloss-berlin.de , accessed on January 16, 2013.