Battenberg Tower

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Battenberg Tower in Haldern

The Battenberg Tower is a late medieval residential tower in Haldern , a district of Rees in the North Rhine-Westphalian district of Kleve . It is located northeast of Haldern right next to a farm and is a rare example of a slightly protected residential tower in the Rhineland.

history

The Buschkampshof , next to which the Battenberg Tower stands, was first mentioned in 1377. In 1494 Duke Johann II von Kleve enfeoffed the armor servant Amelongh von Escharden with the court. Amelongh made a career, he became a court messenger in 1494 and a judge in Rees and Aspel in 1498 . He is believed to be the builder of the tower, which was built in the early 16th century. The tower probably owes its name to the office of the builder: Batenberg is the tower (old German mountain) of the messenger. In the south side of the tower the inscription: VDMI AE - DHWBIE (motto: Verbum Domini Manet In Aeternum (Latin) - The Lord's word remains in eternity (German)) is inserted in glazed bricks. This indicates that the tower was built during or after the Reformation. Originally, the complex was supposed to include at least one other building, as the remains of the moat and traces for the connection of high walls on the north and west sides suggest. However, these buildings were never erected.

In 1639 the property was still referred to as a knight's seat, but no longer in 1674. In 1676 and finally in 1681 the Buschkampshof came into the possession of the von Wittenhorst-Sonsfeld family , who also laid out an avenue facing the Battenberg tower from their park , which was part of Sonsfeld Castle . After the tower was used as a storehouse and stable in later centuries, the tower fell into disrepair when it was leased from the Haldern local history association in 1984 and renovated in an exemplary manner by 1993. Since then, the tower has been the seat of the Haldern Heimatverein and can be viewed on the first Sunday of each month in summer.

investment

The eleven-meter-high tower is two-story above a low basement and has an almost square floor plan. It is built of bricks, in the eastern outer wall a figure made of glazed bricks is set, which probably represents the builder. The two residential floors could each be heated with chimneys, and a lavatory bay is built on the ground floor, which leads directly into the former ditch. There are loopholes in the basement, but the low wall thickness and the generous cross-frame windows show that the tower was only partially built as a defensive tower.

The Turmallee facing the Battenberg Tower from the former Park Sonsfeld is still partially preserved.

rating

There are no documents from the builder after 1504. It is not known why the plant was not expanded. The signs of use on the chimney and toilet show that the tower was only inhabited for a short time. Due to the later agricultural use, significant modifications were not made, so that the tower is in its original condition today.

The Battenberg Tower, a stone version of the Lower Rhine Berf, is unprecedented in the Rhineland. In the late Middle Ages, it was an attempt to combine quality of living and defensiveness, but without being able to fulfill these tasks satisfactorily.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Thüringer Allgemeine: The word of the Lord remains in eternity, web link: http://gotha.thueringer-allgemeine.de/web/gotha/startseite/detail/-/specific/Das-Wort-des-Herrn-bleibt-in- Eternity -1545492024 Retrieved April 18, 2018

Coordinates: 51 ° 46 ′ 32 "  N , 6 ° 28 ′ 12"  E