Zwinger

Zwinger may refer to:

Zwinger (fortification)

A Zwinger (German pronunciation: [ˈt͡svɪŋɐ]) is an open area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes.Zwingers were built in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period to improve the defence of castles and town walls. The term is German and usually left untranslated. However, it is sometimes rendered as "outer courtyard" presumably referring to the subsequent role of a Zwinger as a castle's defences became redundant and it was converted into a palace or schloss, however, this belies its original purpose as a form of killing ground for the defence. The word is linked with zwingen, "to force", perhaps because the Zwinger forced an enemy to negotiate it before assaulting the main defensive line.

Castles

The Zwinger of a castle is sited in front of the main curtain wall and is enclosed on the outer side by a second, lower wall, known as the Zwinger wall (Zwingermauer). If attackers succeed in getting past the Zwinger wall, they would be trapped in the Zwinger and were an easy target for the defenders on the main wall (Hauptmauer). Further progress was thus seriously impeded.

Zwinger (Goslar)

The Zwinger in Goslar is a battery tower that is part of the fortifications of the old imperial city of Goslar, Germany. It is located on the Thomaswall in the south of the town and was built in 1517. On this side Goslar was strongly dominated by the nearby hill of Rammelsberg, which would have made a good location for positioning enemy guns in the event of an attack on the townn; the town fortifications therefore needed the extra protection of a strong battery tower at this point.

The stonework of Goslar's Zwinger was predominantly made of sandstone quarried from the Sudmerberg northeast of Goslar and mortared with burnt lime. Because lime burning was still in not fully developed, the builders mixed the mortar with horsehair, quark, goat's milk and ox blood to harden it fully.

Immediately under the corbelling are two sandstone tablets in the wall bearing the coats of arms of the German Empire and the town of Goslar and the inscription "Anno dm M D X V II". The original conical roof was dismantled in 1857.