Shield wall (castle)

A shield wall, also shield-wall or Schildmauer, refers to the highest and strongest curtain wall, or tower of a castle that defends the only practicable line of approach to a castle built on a mountain, hill or headland.

However some castles in those areas built on headlands such as Tantallon and Old Head do have a similar feature.

[1] The construction of shield walls was common in the late 12th century in Germany and Austria and may have been a reaction to the increasing use of heavy siege engines such as the trebuchet (the height of the walls protecting the buildings beyond from arching fire).

[7] The thickness of a shield wall could, in extreme cases, be as much as 12 metres (39 ft) (e.g. Neuscharfeneck Castle).

In other cases, for example at Liebenzell Castle, the bergfried was built in the centre of the shield wall.