Tower ball
A tower ball - the expressions tower knob and tower knob are or were also in use - is a closed, often round and often gold-plated metal capsule on the top of a castle , castle or church tower . Then usually called roof knobs , such objects also adorn the roof tops of town halls and other public buildings. They are also not uncommon to be found on temples and pavilions in parks. They do not always have the shape of a sphere, but are sometimes also cone-shaped .
meaning
Because a tower or roof knob is supposed to decorate the building and because it is difficult to access once it has been installed, aesthetics and durability are important and they are therefore often made from copper sheet or even finer materials. Because of the inaccessibility, such knobs also serve as so-called time capsules . Some wear a rotating weather vane or a weather vane as an ornament , while church towers and roof knobs usually have a cross .
Time capsule and button files
Because of their relative inaccessibility, tower knobs were often seen as safe places to keep historical documents from the time they were built, such as newspapers or coins from the time that were to be passed on to posterity. The names "church tower button files" or "tower files" were used for documents stored there. The types of text regularly encountered there also include records of the respective parish , excerpts from birth and death registers and reports on special events during the construction period. The documents kept in a tower knob can still help to correct and supplement historical knowledge today.
Button tight
During major renovation work, especially on the roof trusses of towers, it is customary to see the historical evidence in the sphere in an often ceremonial setting and supplement it with evidence of the present. An accompanying celebration is called “Button Festival”.
Knauf as a geodetic target point
Geodesists like to use the knob of a church tower as a control or survey point , since it can be easily sighted from many places and thus saves the more complex search for a marketed ground point.
The round ball under the tower cross can be adjusted very precisely with the theodolite - ideally between the double threads of the cross hairs - and is well suited as a " long-term target " for direction control in surveying networks .
Examples of button files
Church tower of Markersdorf (Saxony)
In Markersdorf repairs were made to the church tower in 1694, 1749, 1780, 1820, 1924 and most recently in 1978. The documents found were displayed in the parish hall for inspection and were photocopied. The oldest document dates from 1635. The document shows which battles were fought in Upper Lusatia during the Thirty Years' War .
Reichenturm in Bautzen
The text on the building history from a tower ball of the Reichenturm in Bautzen, which was attached to the top of the tower after the reconstruction of the previously destroyed tower on July 4, 1628, reads:
- “Meanwhile, this tower, too, rebuilt in 1490 and renewed at the top in 1593 because of its disrepair, lit by a fireball during the siege of the city on October 3rd, 1620 and burned down to the brickwork, but EE Rath and the common citizenry Because of several other more necessary buildings, it was not possible to restore it immediately, but had to wait, so afterwards such a tower began to be built again in 1627 and the button was put on on July 4th, 1628. "
On September 10, 1868, various coins, namely: "[...] a thaler, a ten, five, two and one-new penny, a five, two and one-penny piece of the latest coinage [...]" were placed in the tower ball .
Others
Islamic mosques usually have one or more shiny gold spherical bars as attachments on domes and / or minarets .
literature
- Aldo Colombi, André Colombi, André: The tower files of Lucerne. Norderstedt 2010.
- Anne-Chantal Zimmermann: Mailboxes and time capsules. A little history of the tower balls of the town hall of Sursee. Master thesis, 2010.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Parish Maria-Schutz, harvest festival and erection of the tower cross
- ↑ Topping- out ceremony
- ^ Ortschronik Markersdorf, published in the local history contributions to the 650th anniversary
- ^ Richard Reymann : History of the city of Bautzen. Müller brothers, 1902, p. 707 f.
- ^ Richard Reymann: History of the city of Bautzen. Müller brothers, 1902, p. 716.