Monschau

Summer thunderstorm over the half-timbered village of Monschau (Eifel, Germany)

Hagenwil Castle - Schloss Hagenwil

This beautiful castle, one of the most picturesque and iconic castles in Switzerland, was built in the 13th century and is still surrounded by a wide moat. It is immersed in a beautiful idyll of meadows and orchards and is one of the few examples in Europe of castles with moat preserved in their original architectural form (drawbridge, tower, palace, chapel, battlements).
The castle was besieged in 1405 by the troops from Appenzell (Appenzeller Kriege, Wars of Appenzell); during the 15th and 16th centuries (largely under the Bernhausen family) he took on its Gothic appearance. In 1633, during the Thirty Years War, he was attacked and looted by the Swedish troops.
From 1684 it was a small summer residence of the Abbots of St. Gallen. Today it is privately owned and a restaurant.

Fachwerk Lexikon - Lexicon of German Half-timbered Architecture

Hagenwil Castle, Swiss Fachwerk "Riegelbau"

FACHWERK GLOSSAR – GLOSSARY OF GERMAN HALF-TIMBERED ARCHITECTURE

1; Sparren

2; (Quer-) Riegel

3; Diagonale Streben (Mannfigur)

4; Schwellen

5; Rähm

6; Ständer (Eckständer)

7; Fenstererker

8; Andreaskreuz

9; Gefach/Ausfachung

10; Schnitzdekorationen

11; Fensterständer

12; Gebälk E.G.

13; Geschweiftes Andreaskreuz

14; Inschriftlicher Dekor

15; Brüstungsgefach

16; Geschweiftes Holz

17; Kopfwinkelholz 

The drawing with some of my bibliographic sources

A photo of the beautiful Palm’sches Haus, in Mosbach, 1610

Here is my article (text, illustrations and photos) on the German half-timbered houses published on "Borghi Magazine"

Monschau

Viking houses

A small illustration with Viking houses (based mainly on the reconstructions of the Viking city of Hedeby, Haithabu in german). In the background, a large longhouse. 10th century AD.
This illustration was published in a Swiss school textbook published by Landverlag / Campus Natur

Ottonian Warrior and Watchtower, 11th century AD

    

Medieval "Motte and Bailey"