White Tower (Weißenthurm)

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The White Tower in Weißenthurm
North-west side of the tower, on the left by the tree the boundary stone between Kurtrier and Kurköln

The White Tower , also known as the Owl Tower , is an old customs and residential tower in Weißenthurm ( Rhineland-Palatinate ).

history

The White Tower is documented for the first time in 1550, but according to historical findings it was built in the early 15th century, probably under the Trier Archbishop and Elector Werner von Falkenstein (1388-1418). It marked the border between Kurtrier and Kurköln , which ran from 1335 to 1803 a little northwest of the tower.

The side surfaces of the square building on a flat slate rock point exactly to the cardinal points . The five-story tower, including the ground floor and attic, is around 28.5 m high; the outer walls are around 2.2 m thick on the ground floor and around 1.65–1.70 m thick in the middle part. The masonry is made of quarry stone. The light-colored plaster gave the tower its name and thus also the later settlement. The tower was initially free; settlement began in the area around 1650. The people lived from through traffic at the border. The place Weißenthurm received in 1663 by the Archbishop of Trier and Elector Karl Kaspar von der Leyen , the market law .

The White Tower was originally a border and customs tower. The trade route from Mainz via Koblenz and Bonn to Cologne passed at its foot . A ditch ran from the tower to the Rhine and blocked the way. The ditch could only be crossed over a bridge with a barrier . The land tariff was levied for Kurtrier . As a defensible residential tower, which also enabled the use of firearms , the White Tower was part of the Electorate of Trier Landwehr built by Werner von Falkenstein , which reached from here via Wernerseck Castle to Mayen .

At the end of the 18th century, the White Tower was converted into a prison, with a dark dungeon and rooms on two floors above. A small, heatable apartment for the tower guard was set up on the fourth floor. Narrow, steep stairs lead through the walls to the attic floor, which was provided with a pyramid roof around 1820.

The White Tower now houses the Weißenthurm town museum . In 2009 the tower and the surrounding area were extensively renovated for 740,000 euros.

Monument protection

The White Tower is a protected cultural monument under the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and entered in the list of monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It is in Weißenthurm on Altestrasse .

Furthermore, it is a protected cultural asset according to the Hague Convention and marked with the blue and white protection symbol.

literature

  • Reinhard Gilles: Weißenthurm. History of the city. Geiger, Horb am Neckar 1988. ISBN 3-89264-196-X .

Web links

Commons : Weißer Turm in Weißenthurm  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Homepage of the city of Weißenthurm. Accessed May 1, 2015.
  2. ^ Kubach, Michel, Schnitzler: The art monuments of the district of Koblenz . L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1944, reprint 1981, ISBN 3-590-32142-3 .
  3. ↑ Redesigned tower forecourt. In: Rhein-Zeitung. December 31, 2009.
  4. ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - Mayen-Koblenz district. Mainz 2020, p. 101 (PDF; 5.8 MB).

Coordinates: 50 ° 24 ′ 53.4 "  N , 7 ° 27 ′ 32"  E