Winter tower

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winter tower
Alternative name (s): Winterthurm
Creation time : 13th Century
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: departed
Standing position : Free nobles
Place: Winterthur
Winterthur in 1291 on the map of the Fireworks Society from 1814

The Winturm was a tower and possibly also a castle on the Heiligberg in Winterthur in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland . The exact location of the structure and its shape are unknown, but its existence is historically proven. Based on the drawing on the Gygerplan , a medieval residential tower can be assumed , at least for the new building after the demolition in the 13th century .

history

According to historical tradition, there was a building in this area for the first time in the 13th century, which belonged to the Counts of Kyburg . A document from 1260 mentions a turris apud winterture - a tower or a castle near Winterthur. This castle was probably first used to control the movement of goods and later became the seat of administrative employees of the Counts of Kyburg, including a family called "von Winterthur", which is known from writings from that time. Little is known about the size of this building. Some speak of a simple residential tower, others of an entire castle complex . This was then razed by the Winterthur townspeople in 1263/64. In Winterthur's city legal letter from Rudolf von Habsburg of 1264, the following wording is used: “ Item nostre voluntatis est, quod castrum montis adiacens prefate ville numquam debet reparari ” (translation from Latin: “Likewise, our will is that the lock near the city in question is open the mountain should never be rebuilt. »).

The next indication of the existence of such a tower is 300 years later in a Winterthur Chronicles of Laurentius Bosshart , one of the last members of the Canons Heiligenberg : It's a big turn nebent the Holy Mountain gestannden uff the bühelwisen possible on the tower halden, genempt the Winturn . He also mentions that a castle and mighty vesti stood next to the Bühlwiese on the Heiligenberg . - This indicates the existence of two buildings, which according to the chronicle were both razed - but according to this source with the consent of the Counts of Kyburg.

On the Gygerplan from 1664 the tower is listed again as «Winterthurm». It can therefore be assumed that the tower was rebuilt after its destruction in 1263/64.

The tower appears again on two other maps: in 1814 on a plan by the Zurich Fireworks Society, which is supposed to represent Winterthur in 1292, and on a castle map from 1978 as a former count's castle. Both show the castle slightly shifted on the other side of the tower heap path. However, the castle map could be based on the map of the fireworks society.

Archaeological research

In modern times there have been two attempts to determine the position of this tower. In 1964, on the occasion of the 700-year town charter of Winterthur, archaeologists tried to find the tower for the first time in an exploratory excavation according to Bosshart's information in Büelpark, but without success.

In 2001, the Landbote journalist Jean-Pierre Gubler took up the story about the tower again and - after commuters had reported to him - had them commute to the remains. However, the cantonal archeology had its priorities for emergency excavations and did not want to start the search for the tower again. After the geophysicist Edi Meier found inconsistencies in 2007 during an investigation with his own georadar at a depth of 1.20 meters, another privately financed investigation of this area was carried out in June 2009 at the initiative of the Landbote journalist, with geomagnetics , ground radar and geoelectrical tomography were used. In the middle of the Brühlbergpark, ground plans of a possible medieval tower could be found - but no clear foundations - and references to the Heiligenberg Monastery were found in the rose garden. Exploratory excavations would have to be carried out again for a more detailed investigation.

literature

  • Jean-Pierre Gubler: In search of the lost tower. In: The Landbote. February 3, 2001, p. 27.
  • Jean-Pierre Gubler: The search for the lost tower (2). In: The Landbote. September 1, 2001, p. 17.
  • Jean-Pierre Gubler: The search for the lost tower (3). In: The Landbote. September 15, 2007, p. 11.
  • Jean-Pierre Gubler: The search for the lost tower (4). In: The Landbote. February 3, 2009, p. 11.
  • Jean-Pierre Gubler: Winturm: A story without a happy ending. In: The Landbote. July 13, 2013, p. 11.

Web links

  • Winturm in the Winterthur glossary.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jean-Pierre Gubler: The search for the lost tower (2). In: The Landbote. September 1, 2001, p. 17.
  2. ↑ Jean-Pierre Gubler: The search for the lost tower (3). In: The Landbote. September 15, 2007, p. 11.
  3. ↑ Cantonal archeology of the Canton of Zurich: Archeology in the Canton of Zurich - Brief reports on the projects in 2009. Zurich 2009, p. 16.