A butter-churn tower (german: Butterfassturm) is a two-part

defensive tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

in which the upper section has a smaller width than the lower section. This design provides a ledge or

fighting platform A fighting platform or terraceKaufmann, J.E. and Kaufmann, H.W (2001). ''The Medieval Fortress'', Cambridge, Massachusetts, Da Capo, p. 29. . is the uppermost defensive platform of an ancient or medieval gateway, tower (such as the fighting platfor ...

about half-way up that acts as a

chemin de ronde A ''chemin de ronde'' (French, "round path"' or "patrol path"; ), also called an allure, alure or, more prosaically, a wall-walk, is a raised protected walkway behind a castle battlement. In early fortifications, high castle walls were difficul ...

whilst the narrower tower that rises from this platform acts as a raised observation point. The two sections of the tower are usually cylindrical, but in rarer cases butter-churn towers may have a square plan. Its name derives from its shape which is similar to that of an upright

butter churn A butter churn is a device used to convert cream into butter. This is done through a mechanical process, frequently via a pole inserted through the lid of the churn, or via a crank used to turn a rotating device inside the churn. Etymology The ...

: a cylindrical container with a shorter, narrower top section. The design appeared in the 14th century, being especially employed for the

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under Germ ...

e of

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 ...

s in Europe, but also for wall towers or watch towers on

city wall 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 ...

s. Its fighting or defensive value was not much greater than ordinary defensive towers, but it offered better observation over a greater distance. The reason for the construction of butter-churn towers may have been more symbolic than strategic. In the late Middle Ages many butter-churn towers were erected in the

Middle Rhine Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine (german: Mittelrhein) through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river a ...

-South Hesse-

Taunus The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m). The Taunus range spa ...

region. Examples include those in

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe'', w ...

(the "White Tower"), Friedberg (the ''Adolfsturm''),

Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'' ...

(the " Witches' Tower" and the bergfried of

Idstein Castle Idstein Castle (german: Burg Idstein), later the Renaissance style ''Schloss Idstein'', is located in Idstein in the county of Rheingau-Taunus, Germany. The hill castle was the ''residenz'' of the counts of Nassau-Idstein. The castle's Witches' ...

) and

Oberwesel Oberwesel () is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen. Geography Location Oberwesel li ...

(the "Oxen Tower"). The Marksburg above

Braubach Braubach is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km southeast of Koblenz. Braubach has assorted medieval architecture intact, including ...

am Rhein had a square bergfried to which was added a small butter-churn turret in 1468. This burned down in 1705 and was replaced in 1905. One of the tallest towers is the 56-metre-high

Round Tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fu ...

, the symbol of the town of

Andernach Andernach () is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, of about 30,000 inhabitants. It is situated towards the end of the '' Neuwied basin'' on the left bank of the Rhine between the former tiny fishing villa ...

, which dates to 1453 and has an unusual variation: an octagonal upper turret with a stone gable roof. The highest bergfried of a hill castle with a butter-churn top (1370) was that of Rheinfels Castle above

Sankt Goar Sankt Goar is a town on the west bank of the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen. Sankt Goar is well kn ...

am Rhein which was 54 metres high at the intermediate platform, but was destroyed in 1797. The third-highest surviving bergfried in Germany is at the Osterburg near Weida in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

; it is 53 metres high and also designed as a butter-churn tower. It is also one of the oldest surviving bergfrieds, dating to 1193. It measures 24 metres to the platform and has an octagonal, stone

conical roof A conical roof or cone roof is a cone-shaped roof that is circular at its base and terminates in a point. Distribution Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either si ...

dating to the 15th century.

References

Literature

* Horst Wolfgang Böhme, Reinhard Friedrich, Barbara Schock-Werner (eds.): ''Wörterbuch der Burgen, Schlösser und Festungen''. Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart, 2004; , pp. 103−105. *

Otto Piper Otto Piper (1841–1921) was a German architectural historian who, with August von Cohausen (1812–1896), is regarded as one of the two founders of scientific research into castles. Life Otto Piper was born on 22 December 1841 in Röckwitz, th ...

, ''Burgenkunde''. Weltbild-Verlag, Augsburg, 1994; , p. 217.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butter-churn tower Fortified towers by type Castle architecture