Schloss is a German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 word for a building similar to a château

Château

A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...

, palace

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

 or manor house

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

; or what in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

 would be known as a stately home

Stately home

A stately home is a "great country house". It is thus a palatial great house or in some cases an updated castle, located in the British Isles, mostly built between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property...

. Most Schlösser were built after the Middle Ages as residence

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

s for the nobility and not as true fortresses, although they were often originally fortified; the usual German term for a true castle is Burg and for a fortress is Festung.

Like a castle, a Schloss is often surrounded by moats and is then called a Wasserschloss (water castle

Water castle

A water castle is a castle or stately home whose site is entirely surrounded by moats or natural waterbodies. Topographically water castles are a type of lowland castle.There is a further distinction between:...

). Other types include the Jagdschloss

Jagdschloss

A Jagdschloss is a palace or a castle in a zoo or a hunting zone such as a forest, field or lake and served primarily as the accommodation for a ruler, and the court, on the occasion of the hunt in the area....

(hunting lodge) and the Lustschloss

Lustschloss

A Lustschloss is a small palace which served the private pleasure of its owner, usually the ruler of the area. It is located in, and was inhabited for court, ceremonial, and state duties.A Lustschloss is often coupled with a Jagdschloss...

(pleasure castle).

See also

• List of castles
• Note in another context Schloss is also German for a lock
  Lock (device)
  A lock is a mechanical or electronic fastening device that is released by a physical object or secret information , or combination of more than one of these....
  
  .