The Pulverturm in Templin is a tower on the old town fortifications of

Templin Templin () is a small town in the Uckermark district of Brandenburg, Germany. Though it has a population of only 17,127 (2006), in terms of area it is, with 377.01 km2 (145.56 sq mi), the second largest town in Brandenburg (after Wittstock) and t ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

. It is located in the eastern part of Templin's ''

Altstadt ''Altstadt'' is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. '' Neustadt'' (new town), the logical opposite of ''Alt ...

'' not far from the Prenzlau Gate. The tower was built in the early 15th century from an old semi-circular defensive structure called a '' Wiekhaus'' in the Templin town wall, which itself is a protected monument. It is made of brick and was covered by a massive brick conical spire. Because the roof was solid, it was nonflammable and acted as a

powder tower A powder tower (german: Pulverturm), occasionally also powder house (''Pulverhaus''), was a building used by the military or by mining companies, frequently a tower, to store gunpowder or, later, explosives. They were common until the 20th centur ...

for the storage of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate ( saltpeter) ...

Literature

* Kristina Krüger, ''Dehio, Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Brandenburg'',

Deutscher Kunstverlag The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture, and historic preservation. History Deutscher Kunstverlag was ...

München Berlin 2000, , p. 1046. * Max Lobedan, Helmut Schmertosch, ''Templin und Umgebung'', Stadt-Bild-Verlag Leipzig 1998, , page 19. {{coord, 53.119685, N, 13.503902, E, display=title, format=dms Round towers Brick Gothic

15th-century architecture Gothic architecture in Germany Fortified towers in Germany Buildings and structures in Uckermark (district)