Swamp castle

A swamp castle is a low castle in a swamp or moor landscape . They used the natural inaccessibility of the site as a defensive advantage. In contrast to a moated castle, a swamp or moor landscape was used or built in as an obstacle to approach. Swamp castles were mostly created within these landscapes as an embankment, similar to a hill fort. In some places, however, only a nearby marshland or moor landscape was used as protection on one or more sides and the castle was built on solid land. B. was the case with the first Danzig Castle. Most of the castles of this type were built in the lowlands of rivers to the Baltic and North Sea between Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg .

Swamp castles are historically one of the oldest types of castles and were built by the Slavic peoples in the areas mentioned as early as the early Middle Ages . Their demarcation to water castles is fluid.

According to Swiss historians, a swamp castle can be defined in the broadest sense as a facility whose outer defenses are built as protection using natural obstacles such as meandering rivers , swamps and moors or are built entirely within these obstacles. This means that a swamp castle can also be described as a moated castle protected by natural waters.

Swamp castles:

Weferlingen castle ruins

Oebisfelde Castle , one of the oldest preserved swamp castles in Europe

Storkow Castle

Calvörde Castle

Süpplingenburg Castle , here the Duke of Saxony and later Emperor of the Roman-German Empire Lothar III grew up . on

Predecessor of the later Harburg Castle

The Wallburg Altenburg (Hanau) was developed by Karl August von Cohausen as Marsh Castle called

Individual evidence

^ Gustav Köhler : History of the fortresses Danzig and Weichselmünde up to 1814 in connection with the war history of the free city of Danzig. First part: Up to the year 1734. Koebner, Breslau 1893, p. 3 .
↑ Willy Keller: General information on swamp and water castles. In: Willy Keller: Die Wasserburg Mülenen (= communications from the Historical Association of the Canton of Schwyz. 63, 1970, ISSN 2234-9588 ). Verlag Einsiedler Anzeiger, Einsiedeln 1970, pp. 9-13 .
↑ Sumpfburg at denkmalschutz.de ; accessed on August 12, 2020
^ Manfred Weber: The Süpplingenburger village chronicle. Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2002, ISBN 3-8311-4513-X , pp. 23-46, (cf. reading sample ).
^ August von Cohausen : The Roman border wall in Germany. Military and technical description of the same. Main band. Kreidel, Wiesbaden 1884, p. 64 .

[1] Gustav Köhler : History of the fortresses Danzig and Weichselmünde up to 1814 in connection with the war history of the free city of Danzig. First part: Up to the year 1734. Koebner, Breslau 1893, p. 3 .

[2] Willy Keller: General information on swamp and water castles. In: Willy Keller: Die Wasserburg Mülenen (= communications from the Historical Association of the Canton of Schwyz. 63, 1970, ISSN 2234-9588 ). Verlag Einsiedler Anzeiger, Einsiedeln 1970, pp. 9-13 .

[3] Sumpfburg at denkmalschutz.de ; accessed on August 12, 2020

[4] Manfred Weber: The Süpplingenburger village chronicle. Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2002, ISBN 3-8311-4513-X , pp. 23-46, (cf. reading sample ).

[5] August von Cohausen : The Roman border wall in Germany. Military and technical description of the same. Main band. Kreidel, Wiesbaden 1884, p. 64 .