AMuthaus, also MushausorMoshaus (~palas) is the German term for a residential, storage or refectory (dining) building connected with a castle. It is sometimes also called a Turmhaus (literally: tower house).
In the 19th century German encyclopaedia, Meyers Konversationslexikon, under the entry for "castle" it states:
Next to the cabinet came the most important building of the royal castle, the Landgrave's House, also known as the palas (great hall), Mushaus (armoury) or hohes Haus ("big house"), which acted partly as a residence, but was mainly for the court and thus, apart from the cellars, kitchen and refectory, housed a great hall and an armorial hall on the ground and first floors used for gatherings and festive occasions and which was accessible from the courtyard by a perron.[1]
An important function of a Muthaus was its role as a dining hall.
InSouth Lower Saxony and East Westphalia six such buildings have survived from the 14th century:
A particularly fine example of a tower house is the 1508 lowland castle of Radolfshausen in Ebergötzen.
Tower-like houses are also found in Switzerland, e.g. the TurmhausofAltenburg Castle.
