BlueBrixx Bear Rock Castle: Keep Set 105545

BlueBrixx's Bear Rock Castle: Keep is a BlueBrixx-Pro model built from 1,140 blocks, measuring 18 × 35 × 18 cm assembled. The upper floors and roof segments lift off for access. Designed by Marco P., built from GoBricks parts. No stickers or prints. Weight around 1.2 kg.

Nobody lived in the keep

This is the thing films get wrong. A German Bergfried — the tall tower at the heart of a castle — was not the lord's house. He lived in the hall, in comparative comfort, with windows and fireplaces.

The keep was two other things.

It was the last refuge: if the walls fell and the hall was taken, the household withdrew into the tower and shut the door. Which is why on many German keeps the entrance is not at ground level at all but five or ten metres up, reached by a wooden ladder or stair that could be pulled in behind you. The ground floor below it was frequently a storeroom or a prison with no door — access through a hatch in the ceiling.

And it was a statement. A tower is expensive, visible for miles, and says something about who built it. A great many keeps were never defended at all and were never expected to be.

On this model the floors lift out, which is exactly how you would look at the real thing — from above, because there is no other way in.

Standalone or part of the castle

Unlike the Blaustein expansions, this can be built and displayed on its own. It also connects to the Bear Rock base castle (set 105506), and the modular roof means the two can be arranged in several configurations rather than one correct one.

In the BlueBrixx range

Set 105506 is the Bear Rock base castle, with further modules in 105653 and 105654. Sets 102818, 104953 and 105236 are the separate and much larger Blaustein system, which does not connect to this one.

Specifications

Pieces: 1,140 · Designer: Marco P. · Series: BlueBrixx-Pro · GoBricks parts · Removable floors and roof · No stickers
Model dimensions: 18 × 35 × 18 cm (7.1 × 13.8 × 7.1 in) · Weight: approx. 1.2 kg