Long Tower (Aachen)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Long tower

The Long Tower (also called Powder Tower ) was a defensive tower of the outer city wall of the city of Aachen, which was built around 1300 to 1350 . It is one of the few remaining towers of the former city fortifications.

location

The long tower stands on a 204 m high hill between Turmstrasse and Junkerstrasse. He was standing on the highest point of the outer wall . At this point there was already an outer part of the inner city wall.

In the outer ring of the wall, the long tower stood in the west between Königstor and Ponttor , about 100 m north of the Königstor. There was no other tower between the Long Tower and the King's Gate; between it and the Ponttor there were five towers: Burtscheider Tower , Beguinenturm , Gregoriusturm , Bongartsturm and Krückenturm .

history

Pfaffenturm , Königstor and Langer Turm, woodcut by Karl Josef Gollrad .
Entrance door with the coats of arms of the mayor and builder from 1690

The tower was built around 1300. It was one of the most important defense towers of the former city fortifications during the time of the Aachen Empire , as it stood at one of the most endangered parts of the wall. Outside the city wall, the terrain rises steadily, so that a tower with a special height was required here, similar to the Breuerturm, which originally stood on the site of today's Marienturm , and the Sandkaultor .

The city area of ​​what was then Aachen can be seen well from the Long Tower. Therefore, the building was not only used for military surveillance, but also as a fire post and also as a central signal point to the eight watchtowers of the Aachen Empire . From these watchtowers, which were inhabited and secured by local foresters and of which the Alt-Linzenshäuschen , Haus Turm Beeck, Haus Hirsch, Adamshäuschen and Orsbach Castle are still preserved, it was possible to reach enemies in good time by smoke or light signals or by gunfire be warned.

The Long Tower gained special importance during the Thirty Years War , when in March 1638 troops of General Marquis de Grana shot at the tower from the neighboring King's Hill. After the building was hit by more than 250 bullets weighing 25 to 30 pounds, the pointed roof and numerous parts of the wall collapsed. These and other military events led to the surrender of the citizens of Aachen.

But not only military incidents have seriously damaged the tower. After a lightning strike in 1624, the entire pointed hood of the building burned down. The tower guard could only be saved at the last minute. Major restoration work took place again around 1690, as indicated by the lintel, in which the coats of arms of the incumbent mayors Wilhelm Adolf von Eys and Peter Ludwig Bodden as well as their two builders are engraved. After repeated fires in 1807, the pointed roof was not renewed. The decision to use the tower as a powder tower forbade the shape of the roof as it posed too high a risk of fire.

In 1891 the function of the building changed again. It was converted into an observation tower according to plans by the city architect Joseph Laurent . Numerous modifications were made that significantly changed the old structure. In an earthquake on April 13, 1992, a large part of the masonry collapsed. The historic building was restored at great expense.

In the meantime, the tower is used by the student union of the Catholic University Community of Aachen eV as a student residence.

description

In contrast to other semicircular towers, where the floor plan is a semicircle with straight legs, the floor plan of the Long Tower is a segment of a circle with a radius of 6.20 m, which extends slightly beyond a semicircle and has a central angle of about 210 °. This results in a width of the tower of 12.40 m and a depth of 7.90 m. The chord of the circle segment is directed towards the city, the rounded side towards the neighboring Königshügel.

The Long Tower has four floors, the two lower floors of which are higher than the two upper floors. The two lower floors had brick domes and three loopholes each for archery and crossbowmen , two of which faced the moat and one straight out of town. The two upper floors had wooden beamed ceilings and four or five shooting hatches, which could be closed with wooden flaps, for the use of guns such as B. Ballista .

Originally the tower had a conical roof topped by a weather vane , today it has a flat roof with battlements.

literature

See also

Web links

Commons : Long Tower  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 33.3 "  N , 6 ° 4 ′ 21.4"  E