1.
Castle
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A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Usage of the term has varied over time and has applied to structures as diverse as hill forts. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with different features, although some, such as curtain walls. A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures served as centres of administration. Many castles were built from earth and timber, but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire, many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castles firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape, while castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of castles, part of a romantic revival of Gothic architecture. The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive of the word castrum, meaning fortified place. The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Italian castello, the word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of building, which was then new to England. In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is a fortified residence. Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for service and the expectation of loyalty. Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, as well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory
2.
Fortification
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
3.
Schloss
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Schloss, formerly written Schloß, is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house, or what in the British Isles would be known as a stately home or country house. Similarly, in the Scandinavian languages, related Germanic languages, the cognate word slot/slott is normally used for what in English could be either a palace or a castle, in Dutch the word slot is considered to be more archaic. Nowadays one commonly uses paleis or kasteel, like a castle, a Schloss is often surrounded by a moat and is then called a Wasserschloss. Other types include the Stadtschloss, the Jagdschloss and the Lustschloss, sometimes, the medieval Carolingian Kaiserpfalzen are considered as Schlösser already, such as the Palace of Aachen and the Imperial Palace of Goslar. Burg Festung Residenz Media related to Schloss at Wikimedia Commons
4.
Manor house
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A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The term is loosely applied to various country houses, frequently dating from the late medieval era. They were sometimes fortified, but this was intended more for show than for defence. Manor houses existed in most European countries where feudalism existed, where they were known as castles, palaces. Many buildings, such as schools, are named Manor, the reason behind this is because the building was or is close to a manor house. The lord of the manor may have several properties within a county or, for example in the case of a feudal baron, spread across a kingdom. A large and suitable building was required within the manor for such purpose, generally in the form of a hall. This also gave the opportunity for the manor house to be cleaned, especially important in the days of the cess-pit. Thus such non-resident lords needed to appoint a steward or seneschal to act as their deputy in such matters, the day-to-day administration was carried out by a resident official in authority at each manor, who in England was called a bailiff, or reeve. Although not typically built with strong fortifications as were castles, many manor-houses were fortified and they were often enclosed within walls or ditches which often also included agricultural buildings. The primary feature of the house was its great hall. A late 16th-century transformation produced many of the smaller Renaissance châteaux of France, the Tudor period of stability in England saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses, for example Sutton Place in Surrey, circa 1521. During the second half of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and under her successor King James I the first mansions designed by architects not by mere masons or builders, began to make their appearance. Such houses as Burghley House, Longleat House, and Hatfield House are among the best known of this period, nearly every large mediaeval manor house had its own deer-park adjoining, emparked by royal licence, which served primarily as a store of food in the form of venison. Within these licensed parks deer could not be hunted by royalty and this gave them more privacy and space. Court was a suffix which came into use in the 16th century, the obvious origin of the suffix would appear to be that the building was the location where the manorial courts were held. True castles, when not royal castles, were generally the residences of feudal barons, the manor on which the castle was situated was termed the caput of the barony, thus every true ancient defensive castle was also the manor house of its own manor. The suffix -Park came into use in the 18th and 19th centuries, the usage is often a modern catch-all suffix for an old house on an estate, true manor or not
5.
Palace
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A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences, in many parts of Europe, the term is also applied to ambitious private mansions of the aristocracy. Many historic palaces are now put to uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels. The word is sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions. The word palace comes from Old French palais, from Latin Palātium, the original palaces on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power while the capitol on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a residential area. Emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his Golden House, enlarged the house, the word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill. Palace meaning government can be recognized in a remark of Paul the Deacon, AD790 and describing events of the 660s, When Grimuald set out for Beneventum, he entrusted his palace to Lupus. At the same time, Charlemagne was consciously reviving the Roman expression in his palace at Aachen, in the 9th century, the palace indicated the housing of the government too, and the constantly travelling Charlemagne built fourteen. In the Holy Roman Empire the powerful independent Electors came to be housed in palaces and this has been used as evidence that power was widely distributed in the Empire, as in more centralized monarchies, only the monarchs residence would be a palace. In modern times, the term has been applied by archaeologists and historians to large structures that housed combined ruler, court, in informal usage, a palace can be extended to a grand residence of any kind. The earliest known palaces were the residences of the Egyptian Pharaohs at Thebes, featuring an outer wall enclosing labyrinthine buildings. Other ancient palaces include the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud and Nineveh, the Minoan palace at Knossos, the Brazilian new capital, Brasília, hosts modern palaces, most designed by the citys architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Alvorada Palace is the residence of the Brazils president. The Planalto Palace is the official workplace, the Jaburu Palace is the official residence of Brazils vice-president. In Canada, Government House is a given to the official residences of the Canadian monarchy. The use of the term Government House is a custom from the British Empire
6.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
7.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
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Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a federal state in northern Germany. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the sixth largest German state by area, and the least densely populated, three of Germanys fourteen national parks are in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in addition to several hundred nature conservation areas. Major cities include Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald, Wismar, the University of Rostock and the University of Greifswald are among the oldest in Europe. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was the site of the 33rd G8 summit in 2007, due to its lengthy name, the state is often abbreviated as MV or shortened to MeckPomm. In English, it is translated as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or literally Mecklenburg-Cispomerania. Inhabitants are called either Mecklenburger or Pomeranians, the form is never used. The full name in German is pronounced and this is because the digraph <ck> marks a preceding short vowel in High German. Mecklenburg however is within the historical Low German language area, another explanation is that the c comes from a mannerism in High German officialese of writing unnecessary letters, a so-called Letternhäufelung. Human settlement in the area of modern Mecklenburg and Vorpommern began after the Ice Age, about two thousand years ago, Germanic peoples were recorded in the area. Most of them left during the Migration Period, heading towards Spain, Italy, in the 6th century Polabian Slavs populated the area. While Mecklenburg was settled by the Obotrites, Vorpommern was settled by the Veleti, along the coast, Vikings and Slavs established trade posts like Reric, Ralswiek and Menzlin. In the 12th century, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern were conquered by Henry the Lion and incorporated into the Duchy of Saxony, all of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was settled with Germans in the Ostsiedlung process, starting in the 12th century. In the late 12th century, Henry the Lion, Duke of the Saxons, conquered the Obotrites, subjugated its Nikloting dynasty, in the course of time, German monks, nobility, peasants and traders arrived to settle here. After the 12th century, the territory remained stable and relatively independent of its neighbours, Mecklenburg first became a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1348. Though later partitioned and re-partitioned within the dynasty, Mecklenburg always shared a common history. The states of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz became Grand Duchies in 1815, Vorpommern, litererally Fore-Pomerania, is the smaller, western part of the former Prussian Province of Pomerania, the eastern part became part of Poland after the end of World War II. In the Middle Ages, the area was ruled by the Pomeranian dukes as part of the Duchy of Pomerania, Pomerania was under Swedish rule after the Peace of Westphalia from 1648 until 1815 as Swedish Pomerania. Pomerania became a province of Prussia in 1815 and remained so until 1945, wartime In May 1945, the armies of the Soviet Union and the Western allies met east of Schwerin
8.
Mecklenburg
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Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar, the name Mecklenburg derives from a castle named Mikilenburg, located between the cities of Schwerin and Wismar. In Slavic language it was known as Veligrad which also means big castle and it was the ancestral seat of the House of Mecklenburg and for a time divided into Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz among the same dynasty. Linguistically Mecklenburgers retain and use features of Low German vocabulary or phonology. The adjective for the region is Mecklenburgian, inhabitants are called Mecklenburgians, Mecklenburg is known for its mostly flat countryside. Much of the forms a morass, with ponds, marshes and fields as common features. The terrain changes as one moves north towards the Baltic Sea, under the peat of Mecklenburg are sometimes found deposits of ancient lava flows. Mecklenburg has productive farming, but the land is most suitable for grazing purposes, Mecklenburg is the site of many prehistoric dolmen tombs. Its earliest organised inhabitants may have had Celtic origins, by no later than 100 BC the area had been populated by pre-Christian Germanic peoples. The traditional symbol of Mecklenburg, the steers head, with an attached hide. It represents what early peoples would have worn, i. e. a steerss head as a hat, with the hide hanging down the back to protect the neck from the sun, and overall as a way to instill fear in the enemy. From the 7th through the 12th centuries, the area of Mecklenburg was taken over by Western Slavic peoples, most notably the Obotrites, the 11th century founder of the Mecklenburgian dynasty of Dukes and later Grand Dukes, which lasted until 1918, was Nyklot of the Obotrites. In the late 12th century, Henry the Lion, Duke of the Saxons, conquered the region, subjugated its local lords, from 12th to 14th century, large numbers of Germans and Flemings settled the area, importing German law and improved agricultural techniques. However, elements of certain names and words used in Mecklenburg speak to the lingering Slavic influence, an example would be the city of Schwerin, which was originally called Zuarin in Slavic. Another example is the town of Bresegard, the portion of the town name deriving from the Slavic word grad. Since the 12th century, the territory remained stable and relatively independent of its neighbours, during the reformation the Duke in Schwerin would convert to Protestantism and so would follow the Duchy of Mecklenburg. Like many German territories, Mecklenburg was sometimes partitioned and re-partitioned among different members of the ruling dynasty, in 1621 it was divided into the two duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Güstrow. With the extinction of the Güstrow line in 1701, the Güstrow lands were redivided, part going to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, life in Mecklenburg could be quite harsh
9.
Schwerin Palace
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Schwerin Palace, or Schwerin Castle, is a palatial schloss located in the city of Schwerin, the capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, Germany. It is situated on an island in the main lake. For centuries the palace was the home of the dukes and grand dukes of Mecklenburg, today it serves as the residence of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament. It is regarded as one of the most important works of romantic Historicism in Europe and is designated to become a World Heritage Site and it is nicknamed Neuschwanstein of the North. The first records of a castle at this date from AD973. There was a fort of the Polabian Slav tribe of the Obotrites on an island in the large Lake of Schwerin, in 1160, the fort became a target of Germanic noblemen planning to expand their territory eastward under the leadership of Henry the Lion. The Obotrites under Niklot destroyed the fort but left because of the Germanic military dominance, however, the German conquerors recognized the strategic and aesthetically interesting location of the island and started building a new fort. The foundation of the city of Schwerin took place in the same year, Schwerin became the seat of a bishopric. In 1358, the County of Schwerin was purchased by the descendants of Niklot and they soon relocated farther inland from Mikelenburg, near the city of Wismar, to Schwerin. During the late Gothic era, the prosperity and position of the dukes led to a growing need for a representative castle. The Bishops House from that period remains intact, under John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg, the building faced important changes. The fort became a palace, and the functionality of the fortress was replaced with ornamentation. The use of terracotta during the Renaissance was dominant in North German architecture, a few years after reworking the main building itself, from 1560 to 1563, John Albert rebuilt the palaces chapel. It became the first new Protestant church of the state, the architecture was inspired by churches in Torgau and Dresden. The Venetian Renaissance gate, its gable showing the carrying of the cross, was made by Hans Walther, windows on the northern face show biblical illustrations by well-known Dutch artist Willem van den Broecke. As the ducal residence needed additional defences, despite its island site and they were probably built by the same Italian architects who, under Francesco a Bornau, also designed the Dömitz Fortress. The bastions were later modified several times, and are standing today. Before the Thirty Years War, the architect Ghert Evert Piloot, in 1617, work began under his supervision, but soon had to cease because of the war
10.
Schloss Bothmer
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Schloss Bothmer is a Baroque palatial manor house ensemble in northern Germany. It was built for Count Hans Caspar von Bothmer to designs by architect Johann Friedrich Künnecke in 1726–32 and it remained the property of the Bothmer family until 1945. It is today owned by the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and, following a renovation in 2009–15 and it is the largest Baroque-era country house ensemble in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Schloss Bothmer, the manor and the grounds, was the brainchild of Count Hans Caspar von Bothmer, the manorial estate was created by buying land to form an entirely new estate, an undertaking that Bothmer undertook for ten years, between 1721 and 1731. Bothmer was active as a diplomat in service of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg and lived for periods of time abroad. Among other things, he played a role in helping his employer secure the British throne as George I of Great Britain, while in London from 1720 until his death in 1732, he lived at 10 Downing Street. The buildings were designed by architect Johann Friedrich Künnecke, and built between 1726 and 1736. Bothmer never saw the product, but seems to have decided already during the middle of the 1720s that it should pass to his nephew Hans Caspar Gottfried von Bothmer upon his own death. His will further stipulated that it should be inherited as fideikommis, through the marriage of Hans Caspar Gottfried von Bothmer to Christine Margarete von Bülow, even more land was added to the estate. In 1900 the estate encompassed around 8,000 hectares The estate stayed within the family until 1945, the family fled from the estate during early 1945, in the course of the final stages of World War II. The estate was taken over first by American, then British, after the war, the estate was confiscated by East German authorities and turned into a hospital. Hans Kaspar von Bothmer, nephew of the last owner, had stayed in the castle, in 1948, the hospital was converted into a retirement home for elderly and remained in that capacity until 1994. During this time, the buildings were substantially altered, since 2008 the estate has been the property of the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and is run by Staatlichen Schlössern, Parks und Gärten des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The buildings and park underwent a renovation began in 2009. The scope and cost of the renovation was substantial, The restoration cost more than 36 million euros, the scope of the construction work was enormous,740 tons of concrete alone were poured into the new foundations, project manager Siefert notes. Six thousand five hundred meters of facade were renovated,280 historic windows reconstructed,1300 square meters of stucco restored and 1,500 square meters of wooden floorboards renewed. During the renovation of the park, two containing the former owners family silver were discovered, the silver was neatly wrapped in newspapers bearing dates in 1943. It was handed over by the authorities to the family, the architecture of the Baroque country house was inspired by Dutch and English architecture of the time
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