Schloss
Schloss (German pronunciation: [ˈʃlɔs]; pl. Schlösser), formerly written Schloß, is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace or manor house.[1] In the United Kingdom, it would be known as a stately home or country house.
Similarly, in the Scandinavian languages (related Germanic languages), the cognate word slot/slott is normally used for what in English could be either a palace or a castle (instead of words in rarer use such as palats/palæ, kastell or borg). In Dutch, the word slot is considered to be more archaic; nowadays, one commonly uses paleis or kasteel.
Most Schlösser were built after the Middle Ages as residences for the nobility and not as true fortresses, although they were often originally fortified. The usual German term for a true castle is Burg, and for a fortress is Festung or — slightly more archaic — Veste. However, many castles were called Schloss, especially those that were used as residences after they lost their defensive significance, and many were adapted to new tastes during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Like a castle, a Schloss is often surrounded by a moat and is then called a Wasserschloss (water castle). Other types include the Stadtschloss (city palace), the Jagdschloss (hunting lodge) and the Lustschloss (pleasure palace or summer residence).
Examples of Schlösser
Sometimes, the medieval Carolingian Kaiserpfalzen are considered as Schlösser already, such as the Palace of Aachen and the Imperial Palace of Goslar.
- Gothic
- Schloss Albrechtsburg in Meißen, considered to be Germany's oldest Schloss[2]
- Schloss Allner
- Schloss Blutenburg in Munich, a "castle" in English, but a Schloss in German
- Renaissance
- Baroque
- Schloss Belvedere in Vienna
- Schloss Esterhazy in Eisenstadt
- Schloss Hellbrunn in Salzburg
- Schloss Ludwigsburg
- Schloss Ludwigslust
- Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg
- Schloss Moritzburg
- Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich
- Schloss Pillnitz
- Stadtschloss Potsdam
- Schloss Rastatt
- Schloss Sanssouci
- Schloss Schleißheim in Oberschleißheim, a northern suburb of Munich
- Schloss Schönbrunn in Vienna
- Schloss Schwetzingen
- Neo-Baroque
- Neoclassicism
- Historicism
- Schloss Babelsberg
- Schloss Callenberg
- Schloss Drachenburg
- Schloss Granitz
- Schloss Marienburg
- Orangerieschloss Potsdam
- Schloss Schwerin
- Schloss Stolzenfels
- Burg Hohenzollern, a "castle" both in English and German, when really a fully-flung Schloss
- Schloss Ringberg in Kreuth, Bavaria
- Cross overs
(Relating to places in use for long periods of times, having been extended and/or having had renovations in different styles – of their respective eras – and therefore displaying at least two and often more of these)
- Stadtschloss Berlin
- Münchner Residenz
- Schloss Weilburg
Note
In another context, Schloss is also the German word for a lock.
References
- "Das Oldenburger Schloss". oldenburg-tourist.de (in German). Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- Schloss Albrechtsburg
