White Tower (Wülfershausen an der Saale)

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The White Tower near Wülfershausen

The White Tower is a watch tower near Wülfershausen an der Saale on the corridor border to Wargolshausen and Walterhausen . Not far from the tower ran the old Landwehr , which was largely leveled in the course of land consolidation in 1959.

The tower is said to have once belonged to a chain of waiting towers that connected the northern areas of the Würzburg bishopric. Allegedly, this chain made it possible to transmit imminent danger through fire, smoke or horn signals to Würzburg. An ancient trade and military route, the so-called Kärrnerweg, must have passed near the tower.

According to the General Protocol Book of 1745, the tower was built on the orders of Emperor Heinrich I because of the Huns in 940. Beneficiary Georg Schwinger mentions in his village chronicle written in 1898 a Dr. Stone, according to whose opinion the tower was built against the Saxon invasions at the time of Charlemagne (771–814).

All of this, however, was more likely to have related to a wooden previous building or to previous buildings.

It is not known exactly when the current tower was built. But it probably dates from the late Middle Ages, the 15th or 16th century. It is mentioned for the first time in 1617 in a document and a municipal invoice. At that time it received its white paint, which gave it its current name and, together with the old parish church, which has now been demolished, a roof.

The originally probably four-story tower is built of stone and has the original doorway with a corbel on the first floor. A new door at the base of the tower has recently been added. Like the other towers in the area , it was used for defensive purposes . The guards had the task of warning the locals in good time of approaching enemies and, especially while working in the fields, of the outbreak of damaging fires in the village. In addition, according to the prince-bishop's "Instructions for the Guardian of the Year", they had to ensure that under no circumstances were cattle driven outside the designated routes by the Landwehr, as this would have impaired their blocking function.

A restaurant in the Wülferhausen development area is named after the tower.

Web links

Commons : Weißer Turm (Wülfershausen ad Saale)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

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  1. ↑ a b parish letter Wülfershausen from 1975
  2. ↑ a b History of the parish Wülfershausen an der Saale with its branch, beneficiary Georg Schwinger, 1898
  3. ↑ a b c Das Grabfeld - Heimatblätter for culture, history and customs in Grabfeld No. 1, published by the Association for Home History in Grabfeld. e. V. and Museum Education Center Bad Königshofen im Grabfeld, October 1, 1995, contribution by Reinhold Albert

Coordinates: 50 ° 20 ′ 36.5 ″  N , 10 ° 21 ′ 52.9 ″  E