Marienturm (Aachen)
The Marienturm (also called Marienburg ) was a defensive tower of the outer city wall of the city of Aachen, which was built between 1300 and 1350 . It is one of the few remaining towers of the former city fortifications and is one of the architectural monuments of the city of Aachen.
Name origin
The name Marienturm or Marienburg comes from the day the foundation stone was laid. This took place on August 14, 1512, the day before the Assumption of the Virgin , as evidenced by the inscription on a bluestone.
location
The Marienturm is located in the north of Aachen. Within the city wall, it is the direct neighbor of the still existing city gate Ponttor and the mountain gate, which has no longer been preserved .
history
The Marienturm was built in 1512. This means that it was built long after the outer city wall, which was built between 1257 and 1357, was built. Until then, there had been a large watchtower here. This barely differed in height from the Long Tower and the Sandkaultor . It was called "Breuerturm", "Brewersturm" or "Brauersthorm". In the 13th century, the location of this building required a height that is considerable for a tower, as this was the only way to repel attackers from neighboring Lousberg . This changed with the cannons emerging in the military. In order to be able to use this as a gun on a tower, a lower, more stable construction was much better. The citizens of Aachen decided to tear down the Breuerturm and replace it with the Marienturm. Because of its four meter thick walls, it withstood cannon attacks better than tall, thin-walled towers.
From the fight against the Spanish General de Grana in 1638, holes made by stone balls in the outer wall of the building still bear witness.
In 1908 a garden with a pond, Ludwigsplatz (today Veltmanplatz), was laid out below the Marienturm. It was part of the redesign of the outer moat ring into a closed green belt including bodies of water by the landscape architect Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe , the Düsseldorf court gardener. A hornbeam (1900), a cornel cherry (1900) and a horse chestnut (1850) stand out in the green area around the Marienburg.
On August 6, 1933, the then Mayor of Aachen created a memorial for the victims of the First World War on the ground floor .
The Marienturm was badly damaged during the Second World War and restored to its original state between 1950 and 1955. Today the building is one of the sights of the city visited by numerous tourists in Aachen.
Ludwigsplatz in the eastern part
Ludwigsplatz in the western part
Ludwigsplatz plan 1908
architecture
The tower has four meter thick walls. Its trench floor has two narrow shooting slots, while the upper floor has five shooting shafts. In contrast to the other towers of the city fortifications and as a result of modern war technology, every second shaft on the upper floor was specially prepared for the use of cannons, while the others were intended for defense with rifles.
The curve of the tower has a diameter of 14.70 meters, the square porch facing the city is 13.40 meters wide. On both sides of the tower there are remains of the otherwise barely existing city wall.
Inscriptions
There are numerous inscriptions and memorial plaques on the tower. Your texts are:
- O sint Salvatoir you Heiland Marieburg, I am Genat.
- 1914-1918 | 1939-1945 | THIS BULKWORK, CALLED MARIENBURG, ERECTED IN 1512 TO STRENGTHEN THE OUTER CITY WALLS, WAS CONVENIENTED IN 1932. HARD DAMAGED IN THE 1944 WAR, RECOVERED 1950-1955.
- 1933-1945. Ways against forgetting . Aachen | After planning in the Weimar Republic on August 6, 1933, the National Socialist Mayor of Aachen inaugurated this “memorial” for the German soldiers who died in World War I. The military spirit of those years has shaped this building to the present day.
Memorial to the victims of both world wars
The population of Aachen decided to build this memorial during the Weimar Republic . With the attached inscription, they explicitly indicate that the Marienturm was consecrated by a National Socialist Lord Mayor, but that the decision to do so was without National Socialist influence.
Inside the memorial there is a stone sarcophagus from a war. This was created by the artist Mathias C. Korr in 1933.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Directory of the city's architectural monuments (PDF; 129 kB)
- ^ Entry in the inscription catalog Aachen, DI 32, City of Aachen, number 56 (Helga Giersiepen)
- ↑ Virtual city tour ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2008 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.
- ↑ Walk along the Alleenring ( Memento of the original from May 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Notable trees in the city of Aachen. Contemporary witnesses of the city's history. Published by City of Aachen, The Lord Mayor, Aachen City Administration and Environment Department. Aachen Foundation Kathy Beys. Klenkes, Aachen, 2002, p. 92, 5.
- ↑ a b c d e f Aachen (Marienburg), North Rhine-Westphalia
- ↑ Experience history step by step on foot
- ^ Entry in the inscription catalog Aachen, DI 32, City of Aachen, number 57 (Helga Giersiepen)
- ↑ Step by step. Experience history (s) on foot. Volume 1: Aachen, Jülich, Heinsberg. Meyer & Meyer, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-89899-446-0 , p. 55.
literature
- Bruno Lerho : The great Aachen city wall with gates and towers . Helios Verlag, Aachen 2006, ISBN 3-938208-37-6 .
- Carl Rhoen : The fortifications of the free imperial city of Aachen . Anton Creutzer, Aachen 1894, urn : nbn: de: hbz: 061: 1-230540 ( ISL Aachen [PDF; accessed on May 7, 2016]).
See also
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 56.5 " N , 6 ° 4 ′ 55.8" E