Roman Tower (Augsburg)
The so-called Römerturm in Augsburg-Göggingen is a garden pavilion designed in the Moorish style from the 18th and 19th centuries. Century, based perhaps on a late medieval fortification.
It is located in the park of the former Graf-von-Seysselschen estate . It is accessible to the public from the park of the Gögginger Kurhaus and is now home to the Tycho Brahe Museum.
Building
One interpretation of the name "Römerturm" is that the location is near the old Roman road Augsburg - Kempten - Bregenz , on whose route the road "Römerweg" now runs. According to another assumption, the foundation walls could go back to Roman times. The foundation walls are significantly older than the pavilion built above them today and, with their thickness of 1.35 m, are designed to be significantly too strong for the current building. This has led to the assumption that they could belong to a building that is said to have been destroyed in 1462 in the battle of the imperial city of Augsburg against Duke Ludwig of Bavaria after a tough fight, after tenacious defense by eight "good" journeymen. The tower and the eight swords of the brave fighters formed the coat of arms of the former market since 1837.
According to another consideration, the foundation walls could also have been those of an old water tower . The situation could not be scientifically examined during the renovation.
The garden pavilion, which is placed on the foundation walls, is a building from the 18th or 19th century, which was built before 1830 in any case and was given its current shape between 1870 and 1880. A two- story rotunda with a diameter of approx. 7.5 m rises above a basement with a domed vault , on the ground floor with a wide French window and seven regular window openings. From the interior, where eight columns with pointed arcades support the ceiling, a spiral staircase leads outside to the wide gallery of the upper floor. Here an arcade with 16 graceful columns surrounds an inner, closed round room. A flat conical roof closes the building at a height of approx. 10 meters.
Redevelopment
In 1990 the city of Augsburg bought the part of the garden with the rotunda, which had been inhabited for a long time after the Second World War. The fundamental renovation, which was completed in spring 2007, was only possible thanks to a generous private donation.
While changing exhibitions are to take place on the upper floor of the tower, a small museum is set up on the ground floor.
Tycho Brahe Museum
As a young man, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe spent an entire year in Augsburg from April 1569 to April 1570. According to his plans and with the help of patrons, the first large-scale precision instrument in modern astronomy history, the Augsburg Quadrant , was created here . The approximately 10-meter-tall instrument made of oak wood, reinforced with iron, was set up outside the city in the palace gardens of Augsburg mayor Paul Hainzel , who was an enthusiastic astronomer. The exact location of the Augsburg Quadrant is not known, but it must have been near the Roman Tower. The Augsburg Quadrant was not completed until after Tycho Brahe left, but Hainzel took measurements with it.
The Tycho Brahe Museum on the ground floor of the renovated Roman tower presents a 1: 5 scale replica of the Augsburg Quadrant, as well as information boards in German and English.
literature
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments: Swabia . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1989, p. 378.
- Heinz Friedrich Deininger (Ed.): Göggingen: Contributions to the history of the city. Self-rel. the city of Göggingen 1969. p. 48 (tower); 174 (coat of arms)
- Bernt von Hagen (ed.): City of Augsburg: ensembles, architectural monuments, archaeological monuments. Lipp, Munich 1994. ISBN 3-87490-572-1 (Monuments in Bavaria 83: VII, Schwaben), p. 288 m. Fig. P. 289
- Franz Häußler: The Römerturm Augsburger Allgemeine, August 4, 2005, available at www.parktheater.de
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 20 ′ 31.1 ″ N , 10 ° 52 ′ 19 ″ E