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

A water castle, sometimes water-castle,[lower-alpha 1] 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".

Description

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. To some extent these water castles had a fortress-like character.

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

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

Austria

Baltic

Trakai Castle

Belgium

Kasteel van Wijnendale (Wijnendale Castle)

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

France

Château de Sully-sur-Loire

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

Germany

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

Baden-Württemberg

Bavaria

Berlin

Brandenburg

Bremen

  • Blomendal Castle
  • Schönebeck Palace

Hamburg

  • Bergedorf Palace

Hesse

  • Friedewald Water Castle in Friedewald
  • Fürstenau Palace near Steinbach

Lower Saxony

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

North Rhine-Westphalia

Rhineland-Palatinate

Saarland

Saxony

Saxony-Anhalt

Schleswig-Holstein

Thuringia

  • Kapellendorf Water Castle

Greece

Hungary

Indonesia

Italy

Japan

Imabari Castle

Lebanon

Netherlands

Cannenburgh Castle

Poland

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

Otočec Castle

Sweden

Kalmar Castle
Vittskövle Castle
Chillon Castle
Caerlaverock Castle
Caerphilly Castle

Romania

Switzerland

Turkey

United Kingdom

England

Scotland

Wales

Notes

  1. ↑ See e.g. Gothein (2014)[1]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Gothein (2014), pp. 22, 52, etc.
  2. 1 2 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. 1 2 Fry, Plantagenet Somerset (1980). The David & Charles Book of Castles. David & Charles. p. 89.

General

  • 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.
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