Witch tower or Witches' Tower () is a common name or description in English and other European languages for a tower that was part of a medieval town wall or

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, often used as a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

History

The name is derived from the period of

witch trial A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or Incantation, incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the ...

s. Many of these towers were used to incarcerate those suspected or found guilty of

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

. Other witch towers were named later, for example in the 19th century when they were used as prisons or ordinary towers in the city walls. Witch towers are found in many German towns and cities such as

Aschersleben Aschersleben () is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle (Saale). Geography Aschersleben lies near the confluence of the ...

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

, Frankenberg (Eder),

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

Gelnhausen Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig (Main), Kinzig. ...

Geseke Geseke () is a town in the administrative district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Geseke is situated approximately 12 km south-east of Lippstadt and 20 km south-west of Paderborn. The city is located at the H ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, Herborn, Hofheim am Taunus,

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

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', , , Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. As a border region between the competin ...

Kaufbeuren Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent city, independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the Districts of Germany, district of Ostallgäu. ...

Lahnstein Lahnstein () is a ''verband''-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz. Lahnstein was created in 1969 by the merger of the previ ...

Landsberg am Lech Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech (river), Lech) is a Town#Germany, town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg (district), Lands ...

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

Markdorf Markdorf () is a town in the Bodenseekreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany. It is situated near Lake Constance, 10 km northwest of Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is ...

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the ...

, Olpe,

Rheinbach Rheinbach () is a town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis district ( Landkreis), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It belongs to the administrative district (Regierungsbezirk) of Cologne. Geography Situated south-west of Bonn and south of Cologne, Rhein ...

Rüthen Rüthen () is a town in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Rüthen is situated at the northeastern border of the natural preserve Arnsberger Wald between the Haarstrang and the valley of the river Möhne, app ...

, Treysa, Windecken. Today these towers are sometimes renovated and used to house museums. According to legend, witches were burnt at the stake at the Witches' Tower at the Wildensteiner Burg. With trials from the region of the Upper Danube valley may be seen in the archives. In Babenhausen, a special beer, the ''Hexe'' ("Witch") is brewed which depicts on its label the local witch tower. In

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

there is a witch tower in the city walls dating to the 15th century that was used as a prison and, later, as a store. In 1944 it was destroyed by a bomb and the ruins were torn down. Only a picture on the facade of ''Wolf Dietrich Straße'' and ''

Paris Lodron Paris Lodron or Paris of Lodron (''German'': Paris Graf von Lodron), 13 February 1586 - 15 December 1653, was the Prince-Archbishop of the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg from 1619-1653. Early life He was born 13 February 1586 in the Castel ...

Straße'' recalls this building.

Surviving examples

* Großes Bollwerk and Hexenturm (Büdingen) * Hexenturm (Burg) * Hexenturm (Calbe) * Hexenturm (Fulda) * Hexenturm in the Old Gaol at

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...

* Hexenturm (Gelnhausen) * Hexenturm (Herborn) *Hexenturm ( Hofheim am Taunus) * Hexenturm (Idstein), part of

Idstein Castle Idstein Castle (), later the Renaissance (architecture), Renaissance style ''Schloss Idstein'', is located in Idstein in the county of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Germany. The hill castle was the ''residenz'' of the counts of Nassau-W ...

* Hexenturm Jülich * Hexenturm (Memmingen) * Hexenturm (Oberderdingen) * Hexenturm (Rüthen) *

Hexenturm (Sarnen) The Hexenturm is a stone tower in the municipality of Sarnen in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The name (" witch tower") refers to its use as a prison for suspected witches in the 1 ...

* Hexenturm (Stein am Rhein) * Baszta Czarownic (Słupsk)

Lost witch towers

* Hexenturm (Munich), a tower in Munich's second city wall. * Hexenturm (Salzburg), tower in the former city wall, today on the corner of ''Paris-Lodron-Straße'' and ''Wolf-Dietrich Straße''.Friedrich Pirckmayer: "Der Hechsenthurm in Salzburg: Ein kleiner Beitrag zur Ortsgeschichte" in ''Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Salzburger Landeskunde'', Vol. 45, 1905, p. 112.

Gallery

File:Hexenturm Idstein P1150158 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 fused.jpg, The Hexenturm in Idstein File:Landsberg am Lech Hexenturm.jpg, Witch tower in

File:Heidelberg Hexenturm.JPG, The Witch Tower, surrounded today by the inner courtyard of the New University, is the only remnant of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

town fortifications in

File:Hexenturm_Schwalmstadt.jpg, Witch tower in Treysa File:Babenhausen Hexenturm 2014.jpg, Witch tower in Babenhausen (Hesse)

References

External links

Aufsatz zu Justiz und Erinnerung
{{Fortifications ! Fortified towers by type Witch hunting