Blue Tower (Lübeck)

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The blue tower

The Blue Tower or Beckergrubenturm ( house number : 277 MMQ. ) Was a tower of the medieval Lübeck city fortifications .

The turret was located on the Travekais (today An der Untertrave ) at the western end of the Beckergrube , from which it got its original name. It was built in 1452 by the council builder Johann Rodewold and served to secure the port facilities. Like all Lübeck fortification towers built in the 15th century, the Beckergrubenturm was clad with colored glazed bricks , which gave the building a representative appearance.

The base of the four- story tower was 10 × 9.35 meters; the height to the eaves was 22.5 meters. After only ten years, the foundations were damaged, which had to be replaced in 1463 under the direction of the new council builder Hinrich Helmstede .

Blue Tower, view from NW (model building)

In 1793 the Beckergrubenturm was dilapidated and no longer served any defensive purposes, but its height took away the daylight from the houses in the lower Beckergrube. Consideration was given to shortening the tower by two stories; In the end, however, the decision was made to repair it. As part of the renovation, the Beckergrubenturm was given the blue slate roof of the witch's tower that had recently been demolished . Due to the color of the roof, the new name of the Beckergrubenturm, the Blue Tower , became common.

On August 21, 1844, the owners of the surrounding houses turned to the Lübeck Senate with a petition demanding the demolition of the unsightly and light-robbing tower. An expert report prepared by the city architect Anton Spetzler found that apart from the heavily weathered facade, the tower did not show any significant damage and had not tilted either. Nevertheless, in 1853 it was decided to demolish the Blue Tower. Because of the high demolition costs, the tower was given to the railway company free of charge because they wanted to lay a track on the right bank of the Trave.

literature

  • Rainer Andresen: Lübeck - history, churches, fortifications . Verlag Neue Rundschau, Lübeck

Individual evidence

  1. Eike Lehmann: Hanseatic City of Lübeck - World Heritage in Models . Ed .: Society of World Heritage Hanseatic City of Lübeck. 1st edition. Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 2014, ISBN 978-3-7950-7105-9 , pp. 82-85 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 52 ′ 10.8 "  N , 10 ° 40 ′ 47.4"  E