y the year 900 AD, the aristocratic way of living changed in Germany. It became usual that a lord, instead of living on an unfortified farm in the middle of his barns and stables near a stronghold, built a strongly fortified small castle in a sheltered place where he could reside with his following.
     

oncerning the choice of a suitable place, it was decisive which function a castle should have; this could be, for example, closing a pass or ford in case of war, levying tolls at roads or waterways, or controlling an unruly population.
In the plain, stagnant or running water in moats or lakes surrounding a castle (water castles) served as a means of defence. If there was a well-situated dominating hill at hand it was used to erect a mound castle ("
Höhenburg")
     

he typical German castle was surrounded by a circular wall (defence wall), with habitations and working quarters on the inside which enclosed the courtyard of the castle. On the side where the castle presented a target, the circular wall was strongly fortified and had murder holes through which pitch and stones could be poured down on the enemies.
On the coping of the wall which could be 1 to 3 m thick, there was a wall walk, sheltered towards the outside by a parapet with battlements. The circular wall was flanked by towers (flanking towers) to guard certain sections of it..

With big fortresses, a second wall around the central building provided additional space for defence, the ward, where enemies had to fight under restricted circumstances. If the ward widened on one side of the fortress, it formed an outer bailey.


1. Gate with drawbridge 2. Outer bailey with ward 3. Working quarters 4. Flanking towers 5. "Palas" (Hall) 6. "Kemenate" (Heated chambers) 7. Inner bailey 8. Keep
  moat kept attackers from getting close to the wall. It was either dug as a circular ditch, running around the whole castle, or as a ditch across a mountain ridge which separated the mound castle from the ground behind. [" Halsgraben")
   
he weakest part of a castle was its gate.
So everything was done to make the access to the gate as difficult as possible. In front of it there was always a moat which could only be crossed on a moveable bridge (for example a drawbridge). For better defence, the gate was flanked by towers and sometimes roofed (gate house). Murder holes - these are holes in the wall through which pitch can be poured - were a threat to aggressors. Portcullis sliding down in grooves formed a second barrier. The access to the gate was defended by an extra outwork, an especially fortified defence line in front of it.
     
n the centre of the castle there was usually a huge fortified tower, the keep ("Bergfried"). It served as an elevated lookout point and for fighting the enemy. In case of emergency, it was the last resort for the inhabitants of the castle. The keep's windowless basement (which could only be entered through a trapdoor) was in general used as a dungeon.
     

oncerning residential buildings, a castle contained horse stables, different workshops and a building called "Palas". Usually this was a long-stretched house with working areas and store rooms on the ground floor and a Great Hall on the upper floor, with smaller heated chambers ("Kemenaten") connected to it.

The water supply was provided by a well. At mound castles where digging a well was too expensive or even impossible, rainwater was collected in cisterns.
     
  n the 15th century, the castle began to loose its importance as a fortified and safe place of residence step by step. This can be put down to the increasing perfection of fire arms. During feuds between cities and the lords of the land a lot of castles were destroyed. By the year 1500, the castle had finally lost its roll as a military building. Its position was taken over by the citadel.