Mushroom Tower
The Schwammerlturm is an approximately 30 meter high, medieval tower in the city of Leoben in the Austrian state of Styria . It was part of the former fortification, is the only city gate that has survived to this day and is the landmark of Leoben. The popular name of the building comes from the similarity of its approximately hemispherical roof with a mushroom hat, which protrudes clearly over the narrower upper floor (with its eaves) ( South German: mushroom = mushroom). The real name, but hardly used in everyday life, is Mautturm .
On the side facing away from the city center, there is an inscription that tells the history of the tower in poetry, as well as the image of a double-headed eagle . On the side facing the city center is the Leoben city coat of arms and the image of the current federal coat of arms .
The tower has a narrow road passage used for one-way traffic (eastwards), as well as 4 clocks, for which the 8-sided roof dome is cut out semicircular at its lower edge. A viewing terrace with seating for the tower café runs around the top floor, which is set back a little. Pedestrian passages run parallel to the lanes on both sides of the gate tower through the attached buildings.
25 steps in the southeastern neighboring building lead to the tower floor above the passage vault. After 15 glass steps you reach the lower lift entrance which leads parallel to the following 79 steps up to the level of the café and terrace.
history
When the settlement was relocated in the 13th century, a defense system was built to monitor the entrance to the city from the west. There are different assumptions for this relocation of the settlement; On the one hand, a major fire in Alt-Leoben in 1268 is assumed; on the other hand, the attempt by King Ottokar II. Přemysl of Bohemia to establish the cities of Leoben and Bruck an der Mur as bases against the conspiratorial nobility is given.
In 1512 the medieval complex was renewed and in 1615 Peter Carlone constructed a new tower from scratch. So today's poem about the history of the tower is not entirely correct.
Originally the toll gate tower at that time had a pointed roof. The walls of the tower were not damaged by the strong earthquake in 1794. From the roof truss four oriels had loosened from the wall, which threatened to fall. As part of the security measures, the tower was given a dome-shaped roof, which is why the nickname Schwammerlturm arose.
In 1845 the tower was renovated by the painter Johann Max Tendler . As part of this work, the poem he wrote was attached:
I got up there in 1280, in
1794 I was close to falling,
so in any case I am
very old and older than all of you,
saw many enemies walking through me
and yet always stood upright,
saw the Franks four times,
but always firmly The imperial throne,
Krieger recently saw from east and west,
remained firm even in these storms.
The last two lines, however, were written by Josef Freudenthaler as a reference to the Second World War after its end and added in 1954.
In 1926 the Schwammerlturm was restored and a previously existing fresco on the inner city side was removed. The motif of the fresco, which was renovated by Dominik Schuster in 1795 and renewed in 1880, represented a carrying of the cross. In addition, in 1926 the imperial eagle and the city coat of arms were removed.
The most recent restoration of the tower took place in 1954. Now on the Mur side is the double-headed eagle and the slogan, typographically designed by Friedrich Mayer-Beck and implemented by master painter Ramschek, with additions by Josef Freudenthaler. The city arms and the Austrian eagle were reapplied to the city side.
Culture
The mushroom tower is repeatedly presented to artists as a motif. So there are works by
- Georg Gasz (pen drawing)
- Johann Motschmann (watercolor painting)
- Adalbert Nagele (poem)
- August Trummer (printmaking)
- Robert Potutschnig (watercolor painting)
The tower itself serves, among other things, as a cultural site. There are ongoing exhibitions that are accessible free of charge. So far you can see:
- June 2005 to September 2005: Art in the tower in the staircase (artificial construction site LEKUBA)
- September 2005 to October 2005: OXYD-ROTER-FADEN (sculptures, pictures and installations, inspired by the rust-red roofs in Leoben) by KG FreiRäume Hallein
- November 2005 to January 2006: Ceramic objects by Margret Pointner
- December 2005 to the end of 2006: pictures and objects by Eike Lammer
- since mid-2007: historical defensive weapons (hunting weapon but also used to protect the clan. Over time, it became a military weapon for wars.)
A private collection of edged weapons was exhibited in the staircase of the tower , since June 2016 only polearms have been shown in a display case . In around 14 other showcases, 28 reproductions of pictures of the tower from 1890 to 1985 can be seen. Unlabeled and mostly without numbering, it is difficult to assign them to entries in the catalog leaflet (available in the café).
Every year in the Advent season, the traditional tower-blown music with the "Rudolf Strauss wind group" takes place several times.
A café is located on the top floor of the tower, which can be reached via 119 steps from the ground floor. 2/3 of this can be replaced by a lift ride.
location
The Schwammerlturm is west of the main square near the Mur bridge on the right of the Mur . The only 200 m long Homanngasse goes west (south-west) from the middle of the main square, leads past the historic city theater and through the toll tower and 40 m afterwards to the riveted iron arch bridge, which leads into the Waasen district. In front of the tower, Kirchgasse goes off on the right and then Zellergasse on the left.
literature
- Robert Grimm: And nobody says why. A motorcyclist tells how he survived World War II , Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2003, p. 54, ISBN 3-8311-4891-0 .
- Günther Jontes: Leoben. Leoben the old mining town , Podmenik, Spielberg 1995, pp. 33–41, ISBN 3-900-662-20-7 .
- Wolf-Dieter Köck: Historical edged weapons in the Schwammerlturm: the catalog for the exhibition , self-published by Wolf-Dieter Köck, Leoben 2008.
- Gunnar Strunz: Styria. The green heart of Austria , 2nd edition, Trescher Verlag, Berlin 2011, p. 138, ISBN 978-3-89794-182-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Schwammerlturm , accessed on October 26, 2011
- ^ Günther Jontes: Leoben. Leoben the old mining town , Podmenik, Spielberg 1995, p. 39
- ↑ ZAMG Austria / Earthquake Research ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 24, 2011
- ↑ Tourism Leoben ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 9, 2011.
- ↑ Cf. Gunnar Strunz: Steiermark. The green heart of Austria. 2nd edition, Trescher Verlag, Berlin, 2011, p. 138.
Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '48 " N , 15 ° 5' 33.3" E