White Tower (Nuremberg)

The White Tower at night (from the northeast), on the right in the background the dome of St. Elisabeth

White tower with barbican (from the southwest)

The White Tower is a gate tower of the penultimate city fortifications of Nuremberg .

Location and surroundings

The tower is located on Ludwigsplatz in the Lorenz old town , opposite the former Teutonic churches of St. Jakob and St. Elisabeth . It closes off the pedestrian zone (Karolinenstraße and Breite Gasse) beginning at the Lorenz Church to the west. While it used to be built into the second city wall, which has since been removed, it is now free on the square. To the east of it is the Hans Sachs fountain, which the people of Nuremberg affectionately call the Ehekarussell .

history

The tower was originally part of the Inner Spittlertores (named after the formerly neighboring Elisabethspital) and, like the Laufer Schlagturm, houses a clock that announced the somewhat complicated Nuremberg clock as part of a comprehensive network of clocks .

The tower is a brick / sandstone block construction with a pointed arched gate passage and alternative niches. It was probably built around 1250 and originally also served as a toll station. Together with the Laufer Schlagturm and the Schuldturm , it is one of the few remaining towers of its era in Nuremberg. The demolition planned after the imperial city passed to Bavaria was prevented by the resistance of the Nuremberg citizens.

Its name is derived from the white plastering of the brick masonry in earlier years. In the course of renovation work in the post-war period, the plaster was removed and the barbican was repaired.

Since the subway was built in 1978, an escalator has been built into the gateway to the eastern entrance to the Weißer Turm subway station . A structural connection to the neighboring Wöhrl department store, which has been closed in the meantime, has been reopened since U1-Fashion opened in 2004. Direct access to the C&A department store is also possible on the same mezzanine level.

Others

Evil tongues claim that the White Tower is no longer white because it should be cleaned by the Nuremberg Virgins.

Individual evidence

↑ http://www.burgen.strasse-online.de/4-colmberg-nuernberg/4-25-profanbauten-in-nuernberg/index.html

literature

Helge Weingärtner: White Tower . In: Michael Diefenbacher , Rudolf Endres (Hrsg.): Stadtlexikon Nürnberg . 2nd, improved edition. W. Tümmels Verlag, Nuremberg 2000, ISBN 3-921590-69-8 ( online ).
Kurt Müller, Prevented Demolition Plans. Laufer Schlagturm, Männerschuldturm and Weißer Turm should fall victim to the pickaxe in the 19th century, in: MVGN 78, 1991, pp. 175–96