The Pulverturm in Andernach is a tower that is part of the archiepiscopal-

Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (german: Kurfürstentum Köln), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (german: Kurköln, links=no), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

at Andernach and, at the same time, a fortified tower in the

town fortifications A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

. It was built in 1519 at the behest of the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...

and Prince-Elector Hermann V of Wied as part of the expansion and reinforcement of the already c. 300-year-old Stadtburg and town wall. It was built on the south side of the '' palas'' and marked the southwestern corner of the Electoral Cologne castle site. The tower, which today is 18 metres high, has a c. 13-metre-high, cylindrical, three-storey core with a diameter of c. 12 metres with a trefoil frieze of tuff stone that runs all the way round about 1.60 metres below the base of the conical roof. Another arched frieze runs around the tower at ground level, below which the outer wall is recessed by around 30 cm at a height of 1.50 metres, before widening again by about 20 cm. This area on the base of the tower below the ground level was the wall of the castle moat on the tower side in this area. The pitch of the original roof of the tower is unknown, but in medieval times it may have been significantly steeper and higher. After its destruction in 1689 it stood for almost 300 years as a roofless ruin. In 1980/1981 quite a number of renovation works were undertaken, especially on the eight surviving fortified towers of the town wall, in the course of which the Pulverturm was renewed. The destroyed outer wall of the tower was rebuilt and a new

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

-covered spire and

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

was added in 1981. The tower and the '' bergfried'' are the only intact buildings of the Electoral Cologne

water castle A water castle is a castle whose site is largely defended by water. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. The term comes from European castle st ...

Literature

* Andernach Kulturamt: ''Tore und Türme der Stadt Andernach''. Sonderausstellung Stadtmuseum Andernach, 1984 * Hans Hunder: ''Andernach. Darstellungen zur Geschichte der Stadt''. Stadtverwaltung Andernach, 1986

External links

Bilder der Stadtburg mit dem runden Pulverturm
momentan nicht erreichbar--> Andernach Stadtburgruinen von Sueden Johann Andreas Ziegler

{{coord, 50, 26, 20.3, N, 7, 24, 17.4, E, region:DE-RP_dim:100_type:landmark, display=title Andernach Fortified towers in Germany Middle Rhine Heritage sites in Rhineland-Palatinate Buildings and structures in Mayen-Koblenz 15th-century architecture