Section castle

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A section castle is a castle that is divided into several fortified sections by moats and defensive walls . Each of these sections is an independent fortification and - as far as the spatial conditions permit - usually has its own castle courtyard. Each section makes it possible to control the section in front of it. Since the successive sections allowed for graduated cover, a section could still be defended if the section in front of it was taken by the enemy.

Very often the towers of a section castle were open at the rear ( shell towers ), so that the enemy who had penetrated into the section could not establish themselves in the tower in order to besiege the next section.

The principle of the section castle, together with the Zwinger , the Kammertor and other defensive innovations, was brought to Europe by the Crusades from the Middle Ages .

A striking example of the principle of the section castle is the castle at Burghausen in Upper Bavaria , which extends over a length of 1051 meters . The enemy had to traverse a total of five outer bays before standing in front of the main entrance to the main castle .

Early and pre-medieval fortifications of this type are referred to as section fortifications . Such fortifications usually cut off a mountain spur from the hinterland or run in an arc to a terrain demolition. Weir systems with continuous ring-shaped or oval ramparts, on the other hand, are classified as ring ramparts . High medieval castles were often built into such section fortifications, so use the wall-ditch systems of larger-scale older walled castles as additional obstacles to approach, such as the high-rise castle .

Further examples of a section castle are the Wartburg and the Reichsburg Kyffhausen .

The Burghausen Castle : Far left, the real core of the castle; in front of this, five section castles protect the core castle.
The construction of the facility makes sense because the core castle is almost free of storms on three sides and only the fourth side had to be protected.

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