Details
Founded: 13th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Habsburg Dynasty (Germany)
Rating
5/5 (based on Google user reviews)
User Reviews
Schloss Wittringen, also known as Haus Wittringen, is a moated castle in the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Gladbeck on the south-western edge of the Wittringen leisure centre. Its roots go back to the 13th century.
Once a knight's seat of the Vest Recklinghausen, it has seen many different owners over the course of its history, including the von Brabeck, von Oeffte and von Vittinghoff-Schell families. Today, the estate is owned by the town and is home to a museum and a restaurant. It has been a listed building since 1984
The historical centre of Briançon is a strongly fortified town, built by Vauban to defend the region from Austrians in the 17th century. Its streets are very steep and narrow, though picturesque. Briançon lies at the foot of the descent from the Col de Montgenèvre, giving access to Turin, so a great number of other fortifications have been constructed on the surrounding heights, especially towards the east.
The Savoyards made two raids into French territory in 1691 and 1692. As a result, Vauban was dispatched to inspect the frontier defences, which had been ill-equiped to deal with the attack from Savoy. He returned to the area in 1700 to check on the progress that had been made since his first visit. When Vauban visited Briançon, work on the defences had already started under a local engineer, Monsieur d"Angrogne in 1692.