Johannisturm (Aschersleben)
The Johannisturm in Aschersleben is a building belonging to the city fortifications there and is one of the city's landmarks. It is 42 meters high, of which the helmet is 17 meters. Compared to the towers that had already been demolished, it was the most powerful city tower. Its base is 8.2 by 8.2 meters. Outside the city, two council coats of arms adorn the masonry above the entrance, the city coat of arms is on the city side. The weather vane bears the Prussian eagle with the initials of Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg .
history
The Johannisturm was built in 1380 and is the only surviving gate tower of the five city gates in the city of Aschersleben. The tower of the Johannishospital in front of the city walls at today's Seegraben has its name. In 1462 the tower was badly damaged by fire and was not completely rebuilt until 1466. The passage, the Johannistor , was originally lockable with a portcullis. In 1571 the structure was expanded to form a double gate. In the years 1601, 1652, 1727, 1777, 1788, 1862 and 1891, further, larger repairs were necessary. During the repair of the spire in 1862, a time capsule in the form of a tin box with six different documents was found there, the oldest of which was dated to 1599 and contained various information about the history of the city. A document dated July 12, 1652, for example, described the suffering caused by the Thirty Years' War in Aschersleben, in other writings the occurrence of the plague is reported. In 1863 the upstream powder tower was demolished together with the front gate and gatekeeper house. In 1868/69 the moat in front of the tower was finally filled in. The remains of the city wall next to it were also to be demolished, although public opposition was already aroused at that time. The then town planning officer Hesse finally created the breakthrough in this part of the town wall in 1900 in the form of a pointed, larger archway.
Todays use
In the 20th century, the direction of travel out of town still led through the Johannisturm; today the passage is part of a pedestrian zone. The original access to the main tower was via an outer tower on the west side, which is no longer preserved today. Today, the tower can no longer be accessed from street level without aids, but the access door is still there at its original height and is clearly visible from the outside. The St. John's Tower is illuminated at night and is a tourist attraction.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stadtwerke Aschersleben, Peter Heister (responsible): aschersLEBEN edition 01/2016, p. 8, accessed online on July 19, 2016
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 51 ° 45 ′ 26.4 " N , 11 ° 27 ′ 29.9" E