8-702: The Gelbe Burg ("Yellow Castle"), also called the Gelbe Bürg , is the site of a hill castle on the Gelber Berg ("Yellow Mountain", 628.4 m above sea level (NN) ) northeast of the market village of Heidenheim in the Middle Franconian county of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen in the German state of Bavaria . During the Migration Period there was a hilltop settlement on
16-487: A castle, a castle hill or, later, a small castle. Today it refers to the purported site of a castle that has yet to be confirmed or to a place where a castle once stood, but whose walls have completely or largely been levelled. Many castles that survive today only as burgställe were slighted in the Middle Ages or left to decay naturally after being attacked and destroyed. But many were also deliberately abandoned as
24-455: A later structure, such as an early modern fortress or later modern schloss , where they form elements such as individual wings (often parts of the inner bailey ), buildings or part of the fortifications or are simply used for the foundations of newer buildings or creation of garden terraces. There are numerous villages in Germany and Austria with the name Burgstall, presumably named after
32-462: A result, for example, of the roof tax in Austria. Local names often still refer to the fortifications that once stood on these sites and many of them still have visible piles of rubble or recognisable, albeit levelled, courtyards, because they usually occupy relatively inaccessible sites. However many were also used as a "quarry" for nearby buildings and have entirely disappeared. In some instances only
40-517: The circular rampart type. A neck ditch and collapsed wall remains are still visible on the castle site . In 1448 this ruin is mentioned in the stock book ( Lagerbuch ) at Heidenheim Abbey . Burgstall A burgstall is a German term referring to a castle of which so little is left that its appearance cannot effectively be reconstructed. It has no direct equivalent in English, but may be loosely translated as "castle site". Variations in
48-534: The Gelber Berg. Hardly anything is known of the founding of the medieval castle and the course of its history. Around 1180 the castle was owned by the bishops of Eichstätt : in a document the Eichstätt ministerialis , Chono de Woluesprunnen, was appointed to a district office ( Amt ) there. On the eastern side of the mountain there are still clear traces of a long abandoned early medieval fortification of
56-436: The earthworks remain visible above the ground – features such as ditches and ramparts. The result is that burgställe are often only recognisable as uneven terrain and some are only visible in aerial photographs . Today most are protected as heritage monuments . Usage of burgstall in comparison with a ruin or castle: A large number of castles have not survived in their original form but have simply been incorporated into
64-480: The literature include Burgstelle , Altburgstelle , die Burgställe (plural), Burgstähl (archaic) or abgegangene Burg ("lost castle"). In German castle studies, a burgstall is a castle that has effectively been levelled, whereas a "ruin" ( Ruine ) still has recognisable remnants of the original castle above the level of the ground. The word burgstall is of medieval origin and comes from Burg = "castle" and Stelle = "place" or "site" and originally just meant
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