Castles & palaces

With the expansion of feudalism, the tower hill forts increasingly developed into stone castles with massive defensive architecture over the course of the Middle Ages. They are an expression of power and domination and were erected to protect and control regions or trade routes. They often served as the residence of a noble family or were merely the administrative center of the surrounding estates. In the early modern period, important castles and towns were often converted into fortresses. Manor houses, manors and castles, on the other hand, were rarely fortified with additional fortifications. Nevertheless, they remain an important testimony to feudal society and the self-image of the nobility as the "first estate" right up to the modern day“.