Black Tower (Budweis)

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Black Tower in Ceske Budejovice

The Black Tower ( Černá věž in Czech ) in Budweis was built in the 16th century. It is located right next to the west facade of St. Nicholas Cathedral in the city center and is a protected cultural monument.

history

The Black Tower was built by the city between 1549 and 1577 by the builders Hans Spatz ("Giovanni Spatio" or simply "Mistr Hons"), Lorenc (from 1555) and V. Vogarelli (from 1565). Oak pilots had been driven into the ground beforehand to secure the ground. The Black Tower served several purposes, namely as a bell tower for the Nikolauskirche, as a watchtower and as a visible symbol of the prosperity of the bourgeoisie. The first tower clock was installed in 1606 , which was replaced in 1891 by a product from the former watchmaking company Ludvik Hainz from Prague. In 1898 the stately Habsburg badges were removed from the upper exterior plastering of the tower.

architecture

The black tower, together with the contrasting white tower of the former Dominican monastery, forms a distinctive optical axis in the old town of Budweis.

The location of the tower is extremely unusual for Central European architecture. The tower stands next to the church and is not spatially connected to the church. This can be attributed to the Italian origin of the builders, as this type of construction ( campanile ) is widespread in Italy. Architecturally, the substructure is Gothic. The upper 2/3 of the tower (from the large windows) were built in the Renaissance style.

The free-standing, 72-meter-high bell tower with a square floor plan is made of stone and thus has a smooth, unplastered facade. It is crowned by a lantern . The top ninth floor can be reached via 225 steps.

At the foot of the tower is a bronze statue of Reform Bishop Jan Valerián Jirsík , which was unveiled on September 28, 1926. After the invasion of the German Wehrmacht , it was dismantled and melted down by the National Socialists in the summer of 1939 out of dislike for everything Czech and Catholic. After the fall of the Wall, the monument was restored and inaugurated on October 2, 1993.

Bells

The bells are placed on the sixth and seventh floors. Four of the seven bells come from the Linz bell founder Sylvius Kreutz .

The bells in order of their age with their inscriptions:

  • Stříbrný ("silver bell") in the tone f sharp, cast in 1630 by Vojtěch Arnold, 1.02 m in diameter, 0.9 m high, with Latin-German inscription:
REX GLORIAE // VENI NOBIS CVM PACE // MDCXXX. ADALBERTVS ARNOLD HAT MICH GEGO(SEN)
MARIA // HILF MIR VON NOT // O MARIA
  • Maria in E, cast in 1684 by Paul Haag from Budweis, 0.64 m in diameter, 0.54 m high, with Latin-German inscription:
SANCTA MARIA ORA PRO NOBIS GOS MICH PAVL HAG IN PVDWE AN(N)O 1684
  • Umíráček ( Sterbeglöcklein ) in A, poured 1705 of Sylvius Kreutz, 0.45 m in diameter, 0.35 m high, with German inscription
MARIA IOSEPH S: BARBARA REIN // SOLLEN ALLEN STERBENDEN GNEDIG VND PARMHERRZIG SEIN // SILVIVS CRVCE GOSS MICH IN PVDWEIS ANNO 1705
PALTH: FRA: MARDETSCHLEGER K: K: M: V: A: ZEIG-WART VND // DES: E: ANNA BAR: ROS: HABEN MICH MACHEN LASSEN ANNO 1705
  • Boomerin in A, cast by Sylvius Kreutz in 1723, 1.81 m in diameter, 1.47 m high. The boomerin is the largest bell in the tower and weighs 3,429 kg. It was cast from the material of the predecessor of the same name. The old boomerin was cast in 1507 with a total weight of 4.5 tons and moved from the Church of St. Nicholas to the Black Tower in 1573, but it burst in 1723. The Latin inscription on the "new" boomerin reads:
HOC OPVS DEO B: V: MARIAE SS: NICOLAO AVRATIANO DONATO IN HONOREM FABRIPARATVM DEPELLAT LONGE FVLMINA 
BELLA LVEM VERVM CARO FACTVM IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDAEORVM ANNO MDCCXXIII SYLVIVS KREYTZ LINCENSIS ME FVDIT
  • Oktava in A, cast by Sylvius Kreutz in 1723, 0.91 m in diameter, 0.75 m high, with German-Latin inscription:
+ SIVIVS CREVZ GOSS MICH IN LINZ ANNO 1723
HONORI // ET // VENERATIONI // DIVIS // CAROLO ELISABETHAE // ET // MARGARETHAE // IN // ANNO ISTO // FVSA
  • Marta (Martha) in c sharp, cast by Sylvius Kreutz in 1723, 1.45 m in diameter, 1.02 m high, with Latin inscription:
+ SANCTE DEVS SANCTE FORTIS SANCTE IMMORTALIS MISERE NOBIS + SYLVIVS KREYZ LINCENSIS ME FVDIT
S. VITVS.
+ QVINTA ET OCTAVA SEPTEMBRIS + DEO VERO LAVS ET GLORIA + CAROLVS SEXTVS TER AVGVSTVS CVM ELEGIA CONIVGE SVA ELISABETHA LEGIA PROLE GRAVIDA CORONANTVR PRAGAE
  • Budvar (Budweiser) in E, cast in 1995 by Rudolf Perner from Passau , 1.2 m in diameter, 0.9 m high, with Czech inscription:
1895 1995
1265 – 1995 // 730 LET
DEJ BŮH ŠTĚSTÍ (v pivovarnickém znaku)
ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE // P 1995 // RUDOLF // PERNER // PASSAU

Tower keeper

Until 1956, the Black Tower served as an apartment for the guard and his family. The last tower keeper Franz (František) Schestauber originally performed a continuous 24-hour duty, except for Sundays and public holidays. In 1931, at his request, the working hours were reduced to 12 hours a day. Every 15 minutes at night he called out the night watchman's saying “Pochválen buď Ježíš Kristus až na věky věkův” ( Praise be to Jesus Christ for all eternity) loudly in all four directions. In the event of a fire, the tower keeper started a storm chime on the boomerin and put a red flag (a red lantern at night) on the side in the direction of the fire.

The tower keeper lived with his family in a 20 square meter room on the ninth floor, and he shared the kitchen that followed with the guard. The water was pulled up with a winch . The toilet was on the same floor as the boomerin. Heating and lighting were free of charge for the tower keeper, but otherwise the payment was very low. The young magician climbed the 225 steps up in 1 minute and 17 seconds and down in just 47 seconds.

  • the black tower seen from the main square

  • Aerial view with Nikolauskirche

  • original front door from 1558

  • current entrance door to the Black Tower from 1553

  • Boomerin in the Black Tower of Ceske Budejovice

  • Inscription by the Linz bell founder Sylvius Kreutz on the boomerin

  • Marta bell in the Black Tower of Ceske Budejovice

literature

Web links

Commons : Black Tower (Budweis)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ zvonice Černá věž ÚSKP 36874 / 3-635 in the monument catalog pamatkovykatalog.cz (Czech).
  2. ↑ The only other comparable city towers in the Czech Republic are the Black Tower in Klatovy (built 1547–1557), the tower of St. Bartholomew's Church in Kolín (but with an attached wall and flying buttress) and the White Tower in Hradec Králové (built 1574–1580 with a small annex). A free-standing tower from this period is also the Enns city tower (built 1564–1568)
  3. ↑ Černá věž | ENCYCLOPEDIE ČESKÝCH BUDĚJOVIC. Retrieved July 16, 2020 .
  4. ↑ monuments . In: Scientifically edited online encyclopedia encyklopedie.c-budejovice.cz about Budweis (Czech).
  5. ↑ Second World War . In: Scientifically edited online encyclopedia encyklopedie.c-budejovice.cz about Budweis (Czech).
  6. ↑ Boomerin . In: Scientifically edited online encyclopedia encyklopedie.c-budejovice.cz about Budweis (Czech).
  7. ↑ according to the "Život na věži" plaque in the tower

Coordinates: 48 ° 58 ′ 31.8 "  N , 14 ° 28 ′ 32.3"  E