Lingen powder tower

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The powder tower in 2007
Lingen before the razing of the fortress (copper engraving from 1647)
Lingen fortress around 1605, before it was razed in 1630
The fortress around 1597
The new main gate with the section motto

The Lingen Powder Tower is part of the old Lingen fortress that was razed when the Spaniards left in 1630.

Construction and destruction

The construction of the Lingen castle began at the beginning of the 13th century by the Counts of Tecklenburg . The start of construction on the powder tower can probably be dated to the beginning of the 15th century. After completion, the tower stood inside the castle, which was again specially secured. As was customary at the time, it was used to store gunpowder to defend the city. In 1607 a fire broke out within the fortress walls, which did not spare the powder tower either. The cause was probably a fire in the castle that had not been extinguished, which at that time was usually used for heating or lighting the rooms. As a result, a strong explosion occurred that claimed many lives and also tore large parts of the fortress with it. The Lingen fortifications had their greatest expansion before the fortress was razed before the Spaniards withdrew in 1630.

During the Second World War, the cellar, which was the only part of the building spared from the explosion, was used as an air raid shelter by the students from the nearby Castellschule.

Rebuilding

It was not until 1960 that the Kiveling Section “Die Welfen” began to rebuild the powder tower. Until then, the ruins of the powder tower in downtown Lingen had been overgrown with plants and trees. However, a complete reconstruction true to the original could not be achieved. Therefore, the reconstruction was limited to two floors, which were built above the old cellar. At that time, the section members erected the tower in a few thousand man-hours, so that it could be presented to the city of Lingen on time for the Kivelingsfest in 1961 as a gift from the Kivelinge.

Today's use of the tower

Today the Powder Tower is used by the Welfen Section as a meeting place. Many cultural events take place in the surrounding area throughout the year. For example:

  • Part of the Kivelingsfest every three years at Pentecost
  • Open air area Powder Tower at the annual old town festival
  • Exhibitions

The powder tower area is also one of the destinations on the historical city tours offered by the city of Lingen.

Others

In the course of the last ten years, some important renovation measures to beautify or maintain the tower have taken place:

  • Renewal of the old external staircase (2001)
  • Installation of a cast iron stove (2000)
  • Installation of a new main gate (2000)
  • Repair of the roof, complete redesign of the interior and basement as well as renovation of the dungeon (2010)

A pipe burst in March 2012 made it necessary to repair the basement room, which had already been converted for the Kivelingsfest 2011.

literature

swell

  1. ^ [1] Walk over the former fortification
  • Website of the kiveling section "Die Welfen"

Web links

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 19 ″  N , 7 ° 19 ′ 8 ″  E