The 70-metre-tall Perlachturm is a
belltower in front of the church of
St. Peter am Perlach
St. Peter am Perlach or Perlach-Church is a romanesque Catholic church in the center of Augsburg ( Bavaria). The tower of the church, the Perlachturm, is together with the Augsburg Town Hall the landmark of Augsburg.
Mary Untier of Knots
T ...
in the central district of
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
. It originated as a
watchtower in the 10th century. The existing Renaissance structure was built in the 1610s by
Elias Holl, who also designed the neighbouring
Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually house ...
.
Name
The exact origin of the name "Perlachturm" is unknown, with several different theories attempting to explain it. Of the three constituent parts of the name, "''Per''," "''lach''" and "''turm''," only the latter presents no controversy and means "Tower." The conventional wisdom holds that the first two parts originated from the medieval fairs involving bears on the central square. In
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
, ''Per'' means ''bear'' and ''lach'' describes a ''show'', or ''fair''. An information plaque on the tower itself says that it came from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
"perlego" ("read through"). There are 258 steps to the observation deck.
Gallery
Image:A rathausplatz.jpg, Perlachtower with Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually house ...
Image:Augsburg1550.jpg, Perlach market place 1550
File:Turamichele-2007-1.jpg, Fighting Turamichele
Turamichele ("Tower-Michael") is the name of a moving mechanical figure on the Perlach Tower ('' Perlachturm'') next to Perlach church in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. It shows the Archangel Michael fighting with the devil. Every year on 29 Sep ...
at the window of Perlachturm
Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Augsburgo, Alemania, 2021-06-04, DD 29-31 HDR.jpg, Night view
See also
*
Turamichele
Turamichele ("Tower-Michael") is the name of a moving mechanical figure on the Perlach Tower ('' Perlachturm'') next to Perlach church in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. It shows the Archangel Michael fighting with the devil. Every year on 29 Sep ...
(fighting
Archangel Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
at Perlachturm)
*
Mary Untier of Knots in
St. Peter am Perlach
External links
Pictures of the towerAugsburgWiki (german)
Towers completed in the 17th century
Watchtowers in Germany
Buildings and structures in Augsburg
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