Castle chapels (Шаблон:Lang-de) in European architecture are chapels that were built within a castle. They fulfilled the religious requirements of the castle lord and his retinue, while also sometimes serving as a burial site. Because the construction of such church edifices was expensive for the lord of the castle, separate chapels are not found at every seat of the nobility. Often, a secondary room furnished with an altar had to suffice.
According to historian Sarah Speight, "The religious role of chapels was as normal, as routine, and arguably, as integral to castles as any concern for symbolism and/or military strength."[1]
Frequently, castle chapels were located near the gate or in the upper storey of the gate tower as, for example, at Wildenberg Castle in the Odenwald. This was in order to claim God's protection over the most vulnerable point in the castle.
Though castle chapels might be used as a parish church by inhabitants of towns associated with castles, it was rare for castles to incorporate burial grounds.[2]
Barbara Schock-Werner (ed.): Burg- und Schloßkapellen. Kolloquium des Wissenschaftlichen Beirats der Deutschen Burgenvereinigung. Stuttgart, 1995.
Ulrich Stevens: Burgkapellen. Andacht, Repräsentation und Wehrhaftigkeit im Mittelalter. Darmstadt, 2003.
Gerhard Streich: Burg und Kirche während des deutschen Mittelalters. Untersuchungen zur Sakraltopographie von Pfalzen, Burgen und Herrensitzen. Sigmaringen, 1984.
