Zwinger

[1] Zwingers were built in the medieval and early modern periods to improve the defence of castles and town walls.

In central Europe most Zwingers were built in front of older castle walls as a later addition and reinforcement of the defences.

An enemy who had breached the outer gate and penetrated the Zwinger would find himself in an enclosed area with very little scope to exploit his initial success.

By contrast, the defenders retreating behind the main town walls could easily engage the enemy below them in the killing ground of the Zwinger.

The barbican is based on a similar concept to the gateway Zwinger and is found in front of the main wall but separated from it by an additional moat.

Especially during the time of the Hungarian invasions, defensive castles were protected by berms and outer ramparts to guard against the cavalry attacks of the Magyars.

In the early 15th century, Munich was fitted with a new double ring of town walls, as depicted in the Nuremberg Chronicle.

The artillery fortifications of the Late Middle Ages, by contrast, were defended by numerous flanking and, sometimes also, battery towers or roundels.

Even underground wall walks with embrasures for hand guns may be seen, for example, at Hochhaus Castle near Nördlingen.

Frequently, small, hidden sally ports or posterns enabled direct combat with an enemy in the moat area.

A building inscription records that the castle governor, Nicolas Lorgne, had a barbacane built – almost certainly a reference to the Zwinger.

The outer ring wall of the castle of Tartus (Syria) could have been built at the same time as the Zwinger at Krak, i.e. in the middle of the 13th century.

The Welsh castles of Harlech and Beaumaris (started 1295 but never completed) have a double defensive wall, the outer wing surrounding the inner one concentrically at a short distance from it.

The outer fortification in Beaumaris, with its round wall towers, is particularly massive and comparable to the Krak des Chevaliers.