Ganerbenburg

These families shared common areas of the castle including the courtyard, well, and chapel, whilst maintaining their own private living quarters.

This was not just for practical reasons; the higher nobility naturally wanted to limit the power of their liegemen (Dienstmannen).

This group of knights wanted to build a strong bulwark against competition from the rich citizens, who they deeply mistrusted.

The so-called hantgemal agreement was particularly important for laying down the social privileges and estate rights of the noble families involved.

This so-called Totteilung (Watschar or Watschierung), allowed the former co-heirs unrestricted disposal of their ownership interest.

This often not very smooth communal existence of the co-heirs and their families was governed by the so-called Burgfrieden ("castle peace").

The community usually chose one of the castellans (Burgmannen) as the master builder and set up a join fund, which financed the necessary cost of maintenance of the entire estate.

The original purpose of Ganerbschaft, to preserve a property without dividing it, soon proved in practice to be no longer tenable.

In the case of a feud, the attacker had to be very careful only to besiege the part of the castle owned by their enemy, without infringing the rights of neutral co-heirs.

A member of the family association or community governed by the agreement would be the owner of the undivided and inalienable estate, but his powers were very restricted.

In regions in which multiple inheritance or enfeoffment (Gesamtbelehnung or gesamte Hand) was uncommon, such as Silesia, Mecklenburg and Holstein, no Ganerbschaften are recorded.

In France and England, by contrast, large castles were usually in the hands of a single powerful feudal lord.