Roman Tower (Regensburg)

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Roman tower, view from the east

The Römerturm (also called "Heidenturm") in the old town of Regensburg dominates the cityscape at the old grain market with its massive block shape . The Romanesque residential tower belonged to the ducal Palatinate and was connected to the neighboring Herzogshof to the south by an accessible Schwibbogen , which was dismantled in 1855 and reassembled in a simple form in 1937/40.

The 28 meter high former residential and defense tower of the Palatinate with an edge length of 14 by 14 meters has seven floors with two areas. The lower three floors with wall thicknesses of more than 4 meters have a three-shell masonry: outer shell made of large humpback blocks, inner shell with well-placed hand blocks, the space filled with quarry stone masonry. The ancient appearance of this older, but so far not precisely datable base gave the tower its name. The lower base of the tower dates from post-Carolingian to Hohenstaufen times and consists of large humpback blocks, with stones from the Roman fortifications probably also being used.

Above the base there are four storeys with simple quarry stone masonry from the 14th century in corner blocks and with wall thicknesses of a little more than one meter. There are also two fireplaces in this area. One fireplace is located in the northeast corner of the fourth floor, below a concrete floor that was created in 1944 when a bunker ceiling was drawn in over the third floor, which halved the room height. The fourth floor also contained the two originally only entrances to the tower, one of which led to the Herzogshof in the south over a wooden bridge, the other in the north to an adjacent building. The currently existing door at street level on the south side was only broken out in the 19th century.

The second fireplace is located in the northeast corner of the seventh floor, which is the largest and brightest room in the tower with its narrow walls and three arched openings. The double arcade windows that are also present here served to date this tower area from the first quarter of the 13th century. Both fireplaces are connected by a 20 meter high chimney, which is only partially integrated into the wall, otherwise in a protruding wall jacket. Missing traces of soot show that the fireplace has not been used for 445 years. From some form boards found in the chimney , one can explain the high medieval construction technique of the chimney without scaffolding and cranes.

As the existing windows, the fireplace and the chimney mantle inside the tower suggest, the tower was previously habitable and was accessible via the entrances at a height of 9 meters. During the Carolingian era it could have been used as a place of refuge, but also as a treasure trove, mint or archive. The tower originally had a crenellated wreath instead of the current pyramid roof . Large stonemason marks can be seen in the middle zone of the wall, including several Mühle playing fields on the south side . In the area of ​​the quarry stone masonry, the tower is still 1.6 m thick and decreases by 10 cm with each floor.

During the Second World War , a two-meter-thick reinforced concrete false ceiling was installed inside the tower in order to be able to store the glass windows of the Regensburg Cathedral in the tower, protected from bombs.

Whether the Roman tower is related to the campanile of the collegiate church to the old chapel , 200 meters further south , is under investigation.

literature

  • Karl Bauer : Regensburg. Art, culture and everyday history (6th expanded and improved edition, p. 60). MZ-Buchverlag, Regensburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Jonas Lengenfeld: A vertical wall cladding of the high Middle Ages. The historical study of the chimneys of the Regensburg Roman tower . In: Negotiations of the historical association for Upper Palatinate and Regensburg . tape 158 . Historical Association for Upper Palatinate and Regensburg, 2018, ISSN  0342-2518 , p. 11-24 .
  2. ^ A b Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service GmbH, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 20 .

Web links

Commons : Römerturm  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 1 ′ 9 ″  N , 12 ° 5 ′ 59.1 ″  E