Animperial castle orReichsburg was a castle built by order of (or acquired by) theKing of the Romans or theHoly Roman Emperor on land that was owned by the crown(Reichsgut).
While in the early middle ages, inFrancia, as well as in the earlyHoly Roman Empire, kings and emperors travelled around their realm with theiritinerant courts, using theirKaiserpfalzen (imperial palaces) as transit stations and temporary residences, the weakly fortifiedpfalzen were replaced byimperial castles from the 13th century onwards. However, the stronger fortification of palaces had already begun in theHohenstaufen period, as shown by the 3D reconstruction of the castle-like imperialpfalz ofHaguenau designed by emperorFrederick Barbarossa in the middle of the 12th century.[1]
After the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the royal power temporarily lapsed during theinterregnum. One weak king after another was elected, but no one was able to exercise sovereign power. Princes and bishops tried to expand their territories. They oppressed less powerful nobles, fought the urban rulers (patricians andguilds), illegally seized imperial fiefdoms, introduced customs duties, new taxes and even royalregalia.Feuds, the law of the fist androbber barons escalated. In this situation, the barely fortifiedpfalzen no longer offered sufficient security to the German kings. Most were abandoned, repurposed by cities or local princes, disappeared under new development or fell into disrepair.
Instead of thepfalzen, the heavily fortified imperial castles were built, which - unlike thepfalzen, which were usually located in towns, lowlands, valleys or on river banks - were often hilltop castles likeNuremberg Castle orTrifels Castle. Many imperial castles were built in regions such asSwabia,Franconia, thePalatinate and theAlsace, where there were a high density of imperial estates (Reichsgüter) during theHohenstaufen era. However, kings also liked to stay infree imperial cities loyal to them.
In France and England, from the 13th century onwards, stationary royal residences had begun to develop intocapital cities that grew rapidly and developed corresponding infrastructure: thePalais de la Cité and thePalace of Westminster became the respective main residences. This was not possible in the Holy Roman Empire because no real hereditary monarchy emerged, but rather the tradition of elective monarchy prevailed(see:Imperial election) which, in the High Middle Ages, led to kings of very different regional origins being elected(List of royal and imperial elections in the Holy Roman Empire). However, if they wanted to control the empire and its rebellious regional rulers, they could not limit themselves to their home region and their private palaces. As a result, kings and emperors continued to travel around the empire well into modern times.[2]
The management of the imperial castles, including itssurrounding land with its dependants, was entrusted toministerialis orBurgmannen who were calledReichsministerialen (imperial ministerialis) in this case.
Media related toReichsburgen at Wikimedia Commons
