The castle's collections: the weapons

Most of the armaments on display at the castle came from the sale of the Hefner-Alteneck collection of antique weapons and from the Ritleng sale at the beginning of the 20th century.
The architect Bodo Ebhardt, who was in charge of restoration work in the 1900s, was commissioned to purchase these objects at the request of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The pieces were intended to decorate the rooms of the castle, and in particular the racks that had been placed in the arms room.
Most of the weapons in this room are pole weapons. This word comes from the Latin word ‘hasta’, meaning pole. 
These are weapons whose iron is mounted on a shaft, a long handle.
In this category, you'll find the guisarme, the partisan, the Lucerne hammer, the Morgenstern and other halberds!

In the Middle Ages, the lord was not necessarily obliged to provide full equipment to those who fought for him. 
If a peasant was called to war, he would take what he could find around him, i.e. his tools. Many of these weapons are derivatives of tools, farming implements or hunting weapons.
The guisarme, for example, was originally a billhook, a pruning hook or a sickle on a long pole, used to keep the enemy at a distance.

Soldiers used the same weapon more offensively, even if it was later modified slightly. This is particularly true of halberds, which are derived from an axe or a ploughshare.