Time Tower (Mellingen)
The Zeitturm is a gate tower in Mellingen in Switzerland . It is located on the southern edge of the old town, at the obtuse angle of the isosceles triangular city plan. The tower rises above the Lenzburgertor, the passage between the central Hauptgasse to the Reuss Bridge and Lindenplatz, where the main roads to Baden , Brugg and Lenzburg meet. The Lenzburgertor is the only gate in the canton of Aargau where the outwork has been preserved.
history
A fortified tower has been on this site since the 13th century. The current structure dates from the time of the Old Zurich War around 1450. After the city fire in 1505, it was badly damaged and had to be repaired. In 1544 a comprehensive renovation followed with a new roof and clock mechanism. In order to cope with the increasing traffic, the archway had to be extended in 1845. Extensive renovations took place in 1891 and 1952/53; in the case of the latter, a second lane was created for through traffic with the breakthrough of a second archway in the adjoining residential building to the southeast. Until 1924 there was a moat in front of the gate, which was spanned with a stone arch bridge.
building
The tower shaft , which is around 20 meters high, 8 meters wide and 6 meters deep, has a pyramid-shaped roof with a pointed roof turret . On its west side, the tower presents itself in a rather sober severity. The Vorwerk has a coarse boss cladding, on the first floor above the archway there is a defense chamber with several loopholes . Above the apex of the archway on the side of the alley, there is a relief with the old city coat of arms, flanked by two shield-holder lions.
The tower has a dial on both sides, the one facing the city being particularly elaborately decorated. It counts four polycentric circles and four pointers. The outermost circle shows the twelve hours in Roman numerals (pointer in the form of a hand), in the second circle a sun stick points to the written month numbers, in the third circle a lance points to the signs of the zodiac, while in the innermost circle an arrow marks the astronomical day symbols. In addition, under the roof there is a smaller dial with the minute hand and a rotating ball to display the phases of the moon .
literature
- Peter Hoegger: The art monuments of the canton of Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume VI, District of Baden I. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1976, ISBN 3-7643-0782-X , p. 391-394 .
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 25 '5.6 " N , 8 ° 16' 22.4" E ; CH1903: six hundred and sixty-two thousand nine hundred fifty-six / 252269