Granus Tower
The Granus Tower is a monument in Aachen and was originally built as part of Charlemagne's imperial palace . The roughly 20 meter high tower, made of quarry stones, was completed in 788 AD. The sides of the square structure measure 8.85 meters. Today, the Granus Tower is one of the two Aachen city hall towers alongside the market tower . According to the current state of research, it got its name after the Celtic god of healing Grannus (see also Aquae Granni ).
Equipment and function
There is a vaulted room on each of the three floors. Stairs between the walls of the interior and the exterior masonry connect the floors. A water-flushed latrine was built into a vaulted room on the ground floor. The function of the tower is so far unclear and is currently the subject of research. Previous assumptions that the building temporarily served as a residential tower for the Charlemagne family do not seem to be valid. The building could not be heated, had no sanitary facilities, and the lighting conditions are insufficient.
Currently, the tower is assigned the function of a stairwell, whereby the iron window frames could be covered with thinly scraped and greased animal skins. Corridors lead into the basement of the tower, some of which are now buried and walled up.
history
In the 14th century, the city of Aachen took over the tower along with the partially dilapidated remains of the Palatinate and built the Aachen town hall on the foundations of the assembly hall (the Aula regia ) . In the course of this work, the Granus Tower, which since then has been part of the town hall facade as the east tower, was raised by 14 meters by a structure.
In the 16th century, the document archive of the city of Aachen was set up in the Granus Tower. Only documents were stored here. The file archive was kept elsewhere. In the great city fire of 1656 , the files and manuscripts were destroyed with the exception of a few remains, while the documents stored in the Granus Tower escaped destruction. On September 1, 1754, the cross with the lanterns was placed on the Granus Tower. In 1883 another city fire destroyed the roof of the Granus Tower. Again, the police and fire brigade rescued parts of the documents stored in the tower. The repair of the tower after the fire damage began on April 26, 1899.
During the Second World War , the Aachen town hall was badly damaged by several bomb attacks. On July 14, 1943, the roof of the town hall and the two town hall towers burned out completely. The steel skeletons of the tower domes gave under the action of the heat and were severely deformed. The steel skeletons of the tower hoods, bent by the heat, were to shape the appearance of the town hall for a few more years.
The first security measures on the Granus Tower after the Second World War were carried out in the winter of 1944/1945 by Hans Königs , who later became the first Aachen city curator. The reconstruction of the Aachen town hall including the towers was led by Josef Pirlet in the following years .
In the mid-1960s it emerged that both town hall towers had structural defects and a thorough renovation was required. The granus tower was found to be inclined to the south and east by around 25 centimeters and therefore twelve anchor rods were installed to secure the tower. In the course of the investigation of the subsoil - also with regard to the design of the planned spiers - three subsoil boreholes were carried out in January 1969. It was found that the lower edge of the tower foundation at +167.74 meters above sea level. NN in the soft silt, which is interspersed with flint gravel, was integrated. Solid rock stands 2.70 meters below the tower foundation.
The question of the form in which the two spiers of the town hall should be rebuilt has long been controversial. In 1966 the architect Wilhelm K. Fischer presented an extensive set of sketches for the tower design as a basis for work and discussion. Architecture students from RWTH Aachen University also took part in the competition with 24 designs. Finally, in 1968, eight expert drafts were submitted to a working committee to restore the spire . The working committee decided on the design by the city curator Leo Hugot , which was based closely on the historical models. The spire helmets were put back on in 1978.
Today the Granus Tower is one of the oldest preserved structures in Aachen. It is one of the few Carolingian buildings in North Rhine-Westphalia .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christoph Keller: Archaeological research in Aachen - catalog of the sites in the city center and in Burtscheid. Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-3407-9 , p. 124.
- ^ Leo Hugot: The residential building of Charlemagne in the Kaiserfalz of Aachen. In: Das Rheinisches Landesmuseum 1/69, pp. 9–11.
- ↑ RWTH Aachen Research Project Palatinate Research in Aachen
- ^ Spiegel Online: An ox for the farm by Annette Bruhns, last accessed December 27, 2012.
- ^ Bernhard Poll : Aachen in Daten , Part I to 1964, Aachen 2003, ISBN 3-87519-214-1 , p. 82.
- ^ Bernhard Poll: Aachen in Daten , Part I to 1964, Aachen 2003, ISBN 3-87519-214-1 , p. 230.
- ↑ Ludwina Forst: King's Way. In the footsteps of the first city curator, Hans Königs (1903–1988). Thouet, Aachen 2008, ISBN 3-930594-33-1 , pp. 106-107.
- ↑ William Niehüsener: Report of the Working Group for the reconstruction of the town hall towers . JA Mayer, Aachen 1977.
- ↑ William Niehüsener: Report of the Working Group for the reconstruction of the town hall towers . JA Mayer, Aachen 1977.
gallery
View from the Katschhof
Staircase
gear
Crucifix (1754)
literature
- Wilhelm Niehüsener: Report of the working group for the reconstruction of the town hall towers. JA Mayer, Aachen 1977
- Judith Ley, Marc Wietheger: Light for the imperial ascent? The Granus Tower at the palace auditorium of Charlemagne in Aachen . In: Peter I. Schneider (Ed.): Lighting concepts in premodern architecture. International colloquium in Berlin from February 26 to March 1, 2009 (= discussions on archaeological building research, Vol. 10). Schnell & Steiner publishing house, Regensburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-7954-2460-2 , pp. 280-287.
Web links
- Judith Ley: The Granus Tower. In: Rathaus Aachen - station power of the route Charlemagmne. City of Aachen, The Lord Mayor, accessed on March 1, 2015 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 '33.6 " N , 6 ° 5' 3.19" E