Imperial castle

An imperial castle or Reichsburg was a castle built by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, whose management was entrusted to Reichsministeriales or Burgmannen. It is not possible to identify a clear distinction between imperial castles and the fortified imperial palaces or Pfalzen, because many imperial castles were used by German kings for temporary stays. Many imperial castles were built in regions such as Swabia, Franconia, the Palatinate and the Alsace, where there were a high density of imperial estates (Reichsgüter) during the Hohenstaufen era.

Courtyard of the imperial castle of Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany

List of imperial castles (Reichsburgen)

The imperial castle of Berwartstein, Palatinate, Germany

The imperial castle of Münzenberg, Hesse, Germany

Harburg Castle, once a Staufian imperial castle, Harburg, Bavaria, Germany

France

• Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, Orschwiller, Alsace

Germany

Baden-Württemberg

• Grüningen Castle, Markgröningen
• Stettenfels Castle, Untergruppenbach

Bavaria

• Nuremberg Castle, Nuremberg
• Harburg Castle, Harburg
• Königsberg Castle, Königsberg
• Schwedenschanze Castle, Cham
• Wildenberg Castle, Kirchzell

Hesse

• Boyneburg, Sontra
• Friedberg Castle, Friedberg
• Gelnhausen Palace, Gelnhausen
• Hayn Castle, Dreieichenhain
• Kalsmunt Castle, Wetzlar
• Münzenberg Castle, Münzenberg

Lower Saxony

• Harliburg, Vienenburg

North Rhine-Westphalia

• Berenstein Castle, Bergstein

Rhineland-Palatinate

• Berwartstein Castle, Erlenbach bei Dahn
• Cochem Castle, Cochem
• Guttenberg Castle, Oberotterbach
• Hammerstein Castle, Hammerstein
• Landeck Castle, Landau
• Landskron Castle, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
• Lindelbrunn Castle, Vorderweidenthal
• Meistersel Castle, Ramberg
• Ramburg, Ramberg
• Trifels Castle, Annweiler
• Wegelnburg, Schönau
• Wildburg, Sargenroth
• Berenstein Castle

Saarland

• Kirkel Castle, Neuhäusel

Thuringia

• Kyffhausen Castle, Steinthaleben

Switzerland

• Gümmenen Castle, Gümmenen, Canton Berne
• Nydegg Castle, Berne, Canton Berne
• Weissenau Castle, Unterseen, Canton Berne

See also

• The Imperial Castle in Poznań, Poland
• Palace
• Palas
• Kaiserpfalz (or Königspfalz)

Sources

• Horst Wolfgang Böhme, Reinhard Friedrich, Barbara Schock-Werner (Hrsg.): Wörterbuch der Burgen, Schlösser und Festungen. Philipp Reclam, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-15-010547-1, p. 208.