Rose Tower (Kronach)
The rose tower (also parish tower ) is part of the former fortifications of the Upper Franconian town of Kronach in Bavaria . The listed four-storey round tower is located on Marienplatz at the southern tip of Kronach's old town, which is also known as the Upper Town due to its elevated position on a mountain spur .
history
As early as the first half of the 15th century, there was a tower structure at the site of today's rose tower, which closed off the castle wall and the moat around the city with a platform surrounded by battlements . This tower played an important role in the defense of the city against the Hussites in 1430/31. He was mentioned in a document from the Bamberg Prince-Bishop Friedrich III. von Aufseß on January 15, 1431, in which he initiated the further expansion of the Kronach city moat. This expansion also required a new construction of the existing tower.
The construction of today's rose tower began in 1515 and the work was probably completed in 1533. In 1579/80, another upper floor was added to the tower. The plans for this come from the builder Daniel Engelhardt , who was involved in the expansion of the Rosenberg fortress above the city in Kronach, among other things . On the second upper floor of the tower, which is provided with several T-shaped loopholes , there is a building inscription with the dates 1579 and 1580, directly above a sandstone relief with the coat of arms of the Bamberg prince-bishop Johann Georg I. Zobel von Giebelstadt .
At the back of the tower there is a stone arch that connects the rose tower with the inner wall. During a siege of the city by the Swedes and their German allies in the Thirty Years' War , this connection was destroyed by the city residents in order to allow the attackers, who had managed to climb the Zwinger during a storm on the city, to advance further into the Upper City to prevent. The connecting arch was rebuilt after the end of the sieges in 1634.
The rose tower has also been known as the “parish tower” since the middle of the 18th century. This name is based on the fact that the Kronacher pastors who, built in the years 1752-55 in the Upper Town in the immediate vicinity of the Rose Tower rectory inhabited, used the tower as access to the Lower Town.
From the beginning of the 19th century, the rose tower and the adjoining kennel parts were privately owned until they were bought back by the city of Kronach. Since October 1970 the tower has served the Kronach branch of the Franconian Forest Association as a clubhouse.
swell
- Frankenwaldverein Kronach e. V. (Section "Our Association" of the website; accessed on July 3, 2014)
- Information board of the Lions Club Kronach at the tower.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 14 ′ 22.5 ″ N , 11 ° 19 ′ 26.1 ″ E