ZDF - Castles Bastions of Power (2019) Part 1 Life Behind the Walls of Europe's Castles

Impregnable fortresses, homes of the rich and beautiful, magnificent buildings brimming with power – no other type of building symbolises an epoch as representative as the castle symbolises the European Middle Ages. The first castles are wooden towers on fortified hills. But different designs are quickly developing in Europe in France and Britain rather compact, in German-speaking countries with high mountain keep. But they are used everywhere to secure regions. In this two-part documentary we explore its history and get to the bottom of the “myth of the castle”. Because in some places the legend is stronger than the reality. Dungeons where never was a prisoner, or escape tunnels where no one came through. Castles rarely offered real comfort, and there was hardly any space for the legendary knight tournaments. This documentary breathes new life into their old walls, from the small, less luxurious wooden towers of the early Middle Ages to the mighty bastions of the late Middle Ages. There are said to have been more than 40,000 of them in the German-speaking world. Those that have survived the ages still inspire our imagination today and take us back to a time long past. The documentary tells the story of the castles and fortresses with impressive documentary filming, elaborate re-enactments and 3-D animations.

Part 1 Life Behind the Walls of Europe's Castles

Castles were bastions of power. Yet, what was life like behind their walls? Part 1 of our documentary follows their development all through the Middle Ages, from simple wooden fortifications to the most elaborate strongholds and residences of knights and emperors. It takes us into their bed chambers as well as into their latrines, into their kitchens and their stables and onto their building sites. Archaeologists and historians dispel many of the myths and legends, that surround them even today.

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