Dirnitz
The Knights' Hall (of Slavic dorniza " heated exchange " ), also known as Dirnitz or Türnitz is a smoke free heated dining and common room in Central European castles or early castles. In general, this room was on the ground floor and served the common meals of the household and was elaborately decorated in larger systems.
Equivalent used the terms " Hofdornse " in the Low German language area ( Dornse = room ) and since the 15th century " Hofstube " in central Germany.
However, even if little Secured on the structural part of the daily meals is known in a German residence of the High Middle Ages, it may be assumed that even then and later have been present more often a smoke free heated, larger space for communal meals of male Hofangehörigen needs. The bauarchäologisch usually reliable detectable Great Hall on the upper floors was to probably not suitable in many cases due to the lack of window covering. In the Knights' Hall / Hofstube the heat was initially frequently Warmluftheizungen widespread ( 12th - 15th century ) to be generated more frequently by a breech-loading furnace (13th - 16th century).
Large ground floor rooms at the banquet halls are in the second half of the 13th century to the ducal systems Burghausen ( built after 1255, arched shortly before 1446 ) originated and Trausnitz over Landshut ( 1260 ). Probably Hinterladeröfen were used here. Both plants were under the Wittelsbach Heinrich XIII. (r. 1253-1290 ) expanded as a main ducal residences in Lower Bavaria.
The episcopal castle Ziesar in Brandenburg was in the 1340 newly built housing a large ground floor hall, from whose warm air heater with multiple heating chambers remains have been found. Even in 1470, this older type of heating has been renewed for a renovation.
The function of such a walk-in common areas characterized since the 15th century in numerous regulations for life in larger royal courts from the so-called Hofordnungen. Until the 16th century, dined in the cultural area of a castle or castle owner usually twice daily along with his entourage. Thus we read in 1526 of Hofordnung of the Count Palatine Otto Heinrich for his residence in Schloss Neuburg an der Donau: "The Place half. Item, our maynung is the hinfuran Kainer selbs translated to special, so our table occupied wirdet which are allßdann the so rete, by the Haußvogt and nachvolgend the Edelleut, Cantzleyschreiber and Ainspennigen, fürter our enslaving, allsdann of hofmaisters after that the Rete and on letst other enslaving and Hofgesind [ ... ] ye ungeverlich eight person to ainen set table [ ... ] be. "
The Prince table should in most cases on an elevated dais been a few levels to beat up on one side of the head in a number of sources detectable, be (obtained in Neuburg an der Donau 1544). Only if the court belonged to higher-ranking female members, as they stood in the control room, a separate panel on the upper levels near their living rooms.
In line with its high-level use many of the built in this period or redesigned Hofstuben were executed architectural complex. Originated around 1443 in the large residences Stuttgart and Urach Dürnitzen ( Hofstuben ) 1090 m² and 460 m² of floor space in Württemberg. In the Saxon castle Albrecht the Hofstube in 1471 it was designed similar to the adjacent, also elaborately vaulted Great Hall not only in their dimensions but also their other architecture. More Hofstuben this period have been preserved in the Royal Palace of Dresden ( 1468 ), in Merseburg Castle ( 1470 /80), on the Ronneburg (1477 ) and in Gottorp Castle (late 15th century).
A particularly complex embodied by bay window on all four sides Hofstube has been built around 1510/15 on the ground floor of the building so-called women rooms of Heidelberg Castle. It was highlighted as one of the most magnificent palace rooms in a fame poem to a Royal Wedding 1534: " eating were wol drey furstentisch: / On the first, which is verordent / Gewest in the erckher above, / Which vonn art Billich to praise / I think the tempell auff montsaluat, / has erbawet the Titurell, [Note 1] / Mocht Dissem werckh geleichen not: / Gethierts, laubwerckh, and a picture, ma view, / Gantz excavated artlich and Reyn / Multi possament werklich sublime, / gehymmelt The Gewelb petite, / From colors already außgeplummelt. / Dining is on the not saved any vleis ". Relatively late examples of Hofstuben as elaborate vaulted rooms have been preserved in Schwerin ( 1553) and Güstrow ( 1558 ).
Mostly the Hofstuben were directly accessible from the courtyard. Its architectural distance to the stately home environment of the upper floors is embodied in the fact that they often had no internal connection to the overlying residential floors. However, it was long also not common to set the Hofstube as a dining room in direct connection with the kitchen or to place only in the vicinity, such as, inter alia, the situations in the Albrecht Castle, in the hard rock castle in Torgau ( 1533) or in Schloss Bernburg ( 1567) show.
A process that reduced the representative significance of Hofstuben, was the slow replacement of Naturalbeköstigung and thus the common table of the remaining Hofangehörigen. Especially since the second half of the 16th century went from housekeeping reasons, more and more court households to over pay out a larger share of their members Kostgeld that were no longer cared for by the royal kitchen and no longer ate in the castle.