Hexenturm (Rheinbach)

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Remains of Rheinbach Castle with the Witches Tower

The Hexenturm in Rheinbach in the Rhein-Sieg district in North Rhine-Westphalia is the preserved keep of the former Rheinbach Castle . It stands in the medieval town center on Bachstraße / Himmeroder Wall and is the town's landmark .

Building description

The four-storey, two-shell Romanesque round tower was built in the 12th century from rubble stones that were almost completely obtained from the demolition of the Roman Canal . A dating of the castle of the 12th century in the second half is a dendrochronological determination of a tower located in the abortion seat supported oak for the year 1175th The defense tower was on the strategically important military road from Aachen to Frankfurt . In the years that followed, a castle complex ( main castle ) was built around the keep under the von Rheinbach rulers , and in the 13th century it was given a bailey . The tower stood in the center of the castle, which was built over a polygonal plan. The tower was later integrated into the south-eastern part of the medieval town fortifications of Rheinbach . Most of the castle no longer exists; a school was built in its place in 1951.

The diameter of the tower is 9 meters, its height 34.5 meters and the wall thickness is 2.2 meters. There are two toilets on the ground floor, and on the third floor there is a historic wall fireplace and a wall opening to the battlement of the former city ​​wall . The tower is a listed building.

Name and modern usage

The lowest room of the tower was used in the 17th century as a so-called "witch's dungeon". The name ( Hexenturm ) is reminiscent of the witch trials that took place in Rheinbach, especially between 1631 and 1636. Presumably around 130 people were accused, tortured and burned as witches in Rheinbach who had been locked up in the dungeon of the former keep.

After the privatization at the beginning of the 19th century by the French domain administration , during which the still existing parts of the fortifications were sold in plots, the castle tower served as a windmill for a while . In 1913 the tower came back into the ownership of the city. The pinnacle wreath that had existed up to then was covered after a conical roof was built .

An extensive restoration took place in 1980. Today the tower with a local history collection is a tourist attraction. It is also called community center used, and can be rented by the city council for private events.

Trivia

The novel Der Hexenschöffe by Petra Schier (Rowohlt Taschenbuch, 2014, ISBN 978-3-499-26800-7 , 512 pages) deals with the Rheinbach witch tower and the witch trials there.

See also

Web links

Commons : Hexenturm (Rheinbach)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Peter Gödeke: Culture and Leisure Guide North Rhine-Westphalia , ISBN 978-3-43013-2-497 , Econ 1985
  2. ^ Hans Helmut Hillrichs, Advancing into the Past: Archaeological Discoveries in Germany, C 14 , ISBN 978-3-57001-3-892 , Bertelsmann Verlag, 1992, p. 173
  3. ↑ a b c d Entry on Rheinbach Castle in the " EBIDAT " scientific database of the European Castle Institute
  4. ^ Entry on Rheinbach Castle in the private database "Alle Burgen". Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  5. ^ Website of the Rhineland Nature Park Association , accessed on March 18, 2018
  6. ^ Letter correspondence from the City of Rheinbach , March 11, 2010
  7. ↑ Petra Juling, Ulrich Berger: DuMont Reise-Taschenbuch Travel Guide Eifel, Aachen, Trier , ISBN 978-3-77018-8-390 , Mair Dumont DE, 2015, p. 122
  8. ↑ Helmut S. Jäger, 44 German cities that you should also have seen: Reisereportagen , ISBN 978-3-73479-2-434 , BoD - Books on Demand, 2015, p. 134
  9. ↑ Petra Schlier, The Rheinbacher Hexenturm - a tour , February 12, 2014, in the blog: Petras Welt

Coordinates: 50 ° 37 '26.4 "  N , 6 ° 57' 2.1"  E