Rock castle

Spangenberg Castle (Palatinate Forest), upper castle ( core castle ) and lower castle ( outer castle ) in front of the castle rock

Castello della Pietra , Liguria

Sloup Castle , Lusatian Mountains (Burgstein Hermitage)

A rock castle is a medieval castle in which natural rock formations are directly incorporated into the fortifications and shape the structure of the system. Topographically, rock castles belong to the group of hill castles .

investment

In contrast to normal hilltop castles, which use the surrounding rock as the subsurface for the individual buildings, the entire structure of the castle is determined by natural, often solitary rock formations such as rock needles or cliffs . Typical of a rock castle is its foundation on a rock, which can also serve as a fortification without major expansion. With simple weir systems of this type, the rock can be reached via ladders that are pulled up in case of danger. Rock castles also have wooden and stone superstructures and extensions. The morphological conditions of the rock are usually decisive for the degree and shape of the extension.

The castle rock is always included in the system. If the rock is easy to work with (e.g. sandstone ), rooms, corridors, stairs, wells and cisterns are cut out of it. The buildings made of wood or stone on and on the castle rock use the castle rock as a foundation or wall. As a rule, remains of wooden structures have not been preserved today, but their location and appearance can be partially reconstructed through the beam holes and beam supports that remained in the rock.

Rock castles are found in large numbers in the southern Palatinate ( Palatinate Forest ), in northern Alsace ( Northern Vosges ) as well as in northern Bohemia and Saxon Switzerland , where large sandstone rocks are the prerequisite for construction.

Most of the rock castles are no longer preserved today. The facilities were often razed and used as a quarry by the residents, so that apart from the changes to the rock, only a few remains can be seen. However, some rock castles such as the Neuwindstein ruin offer considerable wall remains. Few rock castles have been rebuilt recently, e.g. B. Berwartstein Castle at the end of the 19th century and the Trifels Imperial Castle , which was to be expanded into a "national sanctuary" during the National Socialist era . In both cases it is not a question of a reconstruction of the medieval building stock, but of contemporary new creations.

Carved castle

The gateway to Rotenhan Castle, completely carved out of the sandstone

The castle researcher Otto Piper used the designation carved castle for castle complexes that have artificially carved cavities from the castle rock. He cites Fleckenstein , Trifels and Altwindstein as examples of this type of building . In structural terms, the relationship to the cave castles is emphasized, which were also often expanded by artificially hollowed out rooms.

Misinterpretations

The rock cut-offs, foundation banks and beam holes are often mistakenly mistaken for prehistoric or early historical pagan places of worship by laypeople. In this regard, tourism has developed around some of the facilities, causing considerable damage to these monuments. The Franconian Haßberge ( Lichtenstein Castle ) should be mentioned here in particular . The neighboring Rotenhan Castle and others are also visited by numerous visitors from all over Europe. A pre-medieval use as a place of worship or sacrifice is usually not archaeologically proven.