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Water castle

Summary

A water castle, sometimes water-castle,[a] is a castle where natural or artificial water is part of its defences.[2][3] (It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. The term comes from European castle studies, mainly German Burgenkunde.[4][5][6] When stately homes were built in such a location, or a Wasserburg was later rebuilt as a residential manor, the German term becomes Wasserschloss, lit. "water palace/manor".

Plan of Doorwerth Castle (Gelderland, the Netherlands)
Bodiam Castle (Sussex, England)
Mespelbrunn Castle (Bavaria, Germany)

Description edit

Forde-Johnston describes such a site as "a castle in which water plays a prominent part in the defences."[2] Apart from hindering attackers, an abundant supply of water was also an advantage during a siege. Topographically, such structures are a type of low-lying castle. Such a castle usually had only one entrance, which was via a drawbridge and that could be raised for protection in the event of an attack.[citation needed] To some extent these water castles had a fortress-like character.[citation needed]

There is a further distinction between:

  • castles that are protected by artificial water-filled moats or man-made ponds, i.e. moated castles
  • castles whose primary means of protection is from natural water bodies such as river courses, or which stand on islands or peninsulas in a natural marshland, pond, lake or sea. Island castles and marsh castles are such examples.

Legacy edit

In many places in Central Europe castles that had formerly been fortified changed their role or were converted over the course of time so that they became largely representational and residential buildings. The characteristic moats thus lost their original security function, but were retained in some cases as an element of landscaping. Today, in monument conservation circles, they are often described as burdensome, cost-intensive "historic legacies" because of the water damage caused to their foundations. As a result, many moats around castles in Germany have been drained, or more rarely filled, especially since the 1960s.

In Germany, the Wasserburgroute or "Water Castle Route" has been established in the triangle formed by the cities of Aachen, Bonn and Cologne which links 120 castles and palaces.[7][8]

Examples edit

Austria edit

Baltic edit

 
Trakai Castle

Belgium edit

 
Kasteel van Wijnendale (Wijnendale Castle)

Czech Republic edit

Denmark edit

Finland edit

France edit

 
Château de Sully-sur-Loire

Please notice that in French "château d'eau [fr]", literally 'water castle', means water tower.

Germany edit

 
Bad Rappenau
 
Brennhausen
 
Friedewald water castle
 
Schwerin Castle
 
Vischering Castle
 
Klaffenbach Castle, (16th century, Saxony)
 
Gommern Water Castle
 
Moritzburg Castle
 
Glücksburg Castle

Baden-Württemberg edit

Bavaria edit

Berlin edit

Brandenburg edit

Bremen edit

  • Blomendal Castle
  • Schönebeck Palace

Hamburg edit

  • Bergedorf Palace

Hesse edit

  • Friedewald Water Castle in Friedewald
  • Fürstenau Palace near Steinbach

Lower Saxony edit

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern edit

North Rhine-Westphalia edit

Rhineland-Palatinate edit

Saarland edit

Saxony edit

Saxony-Anhalt edit

Schleswig-Holstein edit

Thuringia edit

  • Kapellendorf Water Castle

Greece edit

Hungary edit

Indonesia edit

Italy edit

Japan edit

 
Imabari Castle

Lebanon edit

Netherlands edit

 
Cannenburgh Castle

Poland edit

Portugal edit

Slovakia edit

Slovenia edit

 
Otočec Castle

Sweden edit

 
Kalmar Castle
 
Vittskövle Castle
 
Chillon Castle
 
Caerlaverock Castle
 
Caerphilly Castle

Romania edit

Switzerland edit

Turkey edit

United Kingdom edit

England edit

Scotland edit

Wales edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ See e.g. Gothein (2014)[1]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Gothein (2014), pp. 22, 52, etc.
  2. ^ a b Forde-Johnston, James L. (1979). Great Medieval Castles of Britain. Bodley Head. ISBN 978-0-370-30236-2.
  3. ^ Lepage (2023), p. 331: "Water castle: A medieval castle in which natural or artificial water was part of the defences."
  4. ^ Kaufmann & Kaufmann (2004), p. 229.
  5. ^ 12 Wonderful Water Castles at theworldgeography.com. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  6. ^ Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History (2005), p. 44.
  7. ^ Water castle route at achen-tourismus.de. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  8. ^ Water Castles Route at nrw-tourism.com. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  9. ^ a b Fry, Plantagenet Somerset (1980). The David & Charles Book of Castles. David & Charles. p. 89.

General edit

  • Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History (2005). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, Vol. 41, Part 1. Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History.
  • Forde-Johnston, James L. (1979). Great Medieval Castles of Britain. The Bodley Head ISBN 0370302362.
  • Fry, Plantagenet Somerset (1996). Castles of Britain and Ireland: The Ultimate Reference Book. David & Charles.
  • Gothein, Marie Luise Schroeter and Walter P. Wright (2014). A History of Garden Art. Cambridge: CUP.
  • Kaufmann, J. E. and H.W. Kaufmann (2004) The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo.
  • Lepage, Jean-Denis (2023). Dictionary of Fortifications: An Illustrated Glossary of Castles, Forts and Other Defensive Works from Antiquity to the Present Day. Barnsley, UK and Havertown, PA, USA: Pen & Sword Books.

External links edit

 
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