City Tower (Vilshofen on the Danube)

The city tower of Vilshofen an der Donau, 2010

The city tower of Vilshofen on the Danube is a 45.5 meter high early baroque tower. It is the symbol of the Danube city.

Building history

The history of the Vilshofen city tower, located in the west of the city on the medieval city wall, goes back to the year 1319. This first tower functioned as the city gate and therefore existed about 100 years before Vilshofen was elevated to the city. At the beginning of the 17th century, this first city tower was classified as dilapidated by court builders from Landshut and Munich , and a new building was recommended. The builder Bartholomä Viscardi from Graubünden planned and directed this from 1643 to 1647 in the middle of the Thirty Years' War . A nine-storey early baroque tower was built with a so-called Welschen hood and a round arched passage with a wooden gate. By 1677, three figures ( Florian von Lorch , Maria von Nazaret , John the Baptist ) were made and placed in three separate niches arranged vertically one above the other.

A carillon was installed in the mid-1990s. In 2001 the city tower was finally refurbished. The city tower gallery has been located in the tower since then . The Vilshofen Culture and History Association organizes art exhibitions at regular intervals.