Butterfly tower

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kitzinger Falterturm

The Falterturm is a landmark of the Lower Franconian town of Kitzingen .

The round tower was built between 1469 and 1496 as a fortification and watchtower for the outer city wall and is the best preserved part of this former fortification. The name "Falter" is derived from "Falltor". Originally the tower had a lower counterpart to the west and between the two towers was one of Kitzingen's five city gates that could be closed with a drop gate. A bridge that led over the moat, which is now filled in, formed the entrance. At the end of the 19th century, when a large part of the city fortifications were razed, the second tower and the gate were demolished in order to enlarge the city entrance, which means that the Falterturm is now isolated. This lost fortification can still be seen well on historical city views of Kitzingen.

The tower is 52 meters high and has seven floors. Particularly noticeable is the leaning helmet of the tower, which is protected as an architectural monument and is therefore also known as the "leaning tower of Kitzingen". The reason for the inclination of the tower spire is the sagging of the roof beams, although local legends blame it on the alleged mixing of the mortar with wine .

From 1963 to 2011 the tower housed the permanent collection of the German Carnival Museum . In January 2011, the museum was closed because the butterfly tower was classified as highly fire-endangered in an expert report. By the end of the year, the tower should be upgraded for fire protection for around 250,000 euros. Various plans for the reconstruction were subsequently rejected because they would have changed the structure and character of the tower too much. Since autumn 2013, the Carnival Museum has finally been housed in two renovated and restored historical buildings in Rosenstrasse and Luitpoldstrasse - the facade painting, both inside and outside, is by the Kitzingen artist Klaus Christof .

Web links

Commons : Falterturm (Kitzingen)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Denis André Chevalley, Otto Braasch: Lower Franconia: Ensembles, architectural monuments, archaeological site monuments . Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1985, p. 161 ( ISBN 9783486523973 )
  2. ↑ Count Castell culture trail with information on the Falterturm.
  3. ↑ Total closure for Falterturm: Carnival Museum closed . Main Post, Jan. 13, 2011
  4. ↑ Starting shot: fools build their center . Main Post, March 2, 2012

Coordinates: 49 ° 44 ′ 10.4 "  N , 10 ° 9 ′ 34"  E