Iron Tower
Encyclopedia
The Iron Tower is a mediaeval
tower dating to the early 13th century, and modified in the 15th century, which with the Wood Tower
and the Alexander Tower is one of three remaining towers from the city walls of Mainz
, Germany
. Its name derives from the Iron Market (Eisenmarkt), which was held in the immediate vicinity until the 19th century.
The Iron Tower served as a watchtower and gate to the city, and later as a gaol. It was badly damaged in World War II
and reconstructed in the 1960s. Today it houses various organisations and arts projects and is used for art exhibitions.
in 259/260 CE. Not long after 350, in the course of the abandonment of the Roman camp
, this wall was lowered and rubble (spolia
) from earlier construction used to enlarge and strengthen it. After the Romans withdrew, it was improved at various times, particularly in the Merovingian and Carolingian
periods, becoming what archaeologists studying the city have called the "Roman-Carolingian" wall.
However, in 1160 the continuity of the city's defences was drastically interrupted. There was a longstanding dispute between the citizens of Mainz and their archbishop, Arnold of Selenhofen
(and also with the Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa); after the archbishop was murdered, the emperor imposed an imperial ban on the city. The city walls and towers were razed (although it is possible that on the inland side the destruction was only partial).
However, Mainz was an important political and strategic ally in the Hohenstaufens' struggle for supremacy in the German Empire against the Welfs, and so in circa
1190–1200 the city was granted permission to rebuild the defences. The Iron Tower was built in this phase of construction, as one of a total of 34 gate towers and watchtowers.
gateway at the base of the tower dates to the first half of the 13th century, probably around 1240. On the Rhine side, the arch is embellished with two Romanesque
carvings of lions in sandstone
, atop ornamental capitals over fluted cornerstones. One lion grasps a ram in its paws, sometimes interpreted as a symbol of the power of the Church, while the second grasps a dragon or other fabulous animal, symbolising secular power. The lions, an embodiment of defensive vigilance in Romanesque art, are executed in a characteristically stylised manner.
In the first half of the 15th century, the tower was raised to 6 storeys. Towards the end of the 16th century (or possibly as early as the start of the 14th), the gateway lost its function and the entrance to the city was moved to the so-called "Little Iron Door" (Eisentürlein) in a smaller building attached to the tower.
In the 18th century, the Iron Tower was enclosed on the Rhine side by a wall. This remained until the early years of the 20th century. On the other, Löhrstraße, side, there were small Fachwerk houses until 1945.
Beginning in the 17th century, the upper storeys of the Iron Tower were used as the main gaol of what was then the French
city of Mayence
. Prominent prisoners held there included some officers of the Lützow Free Corps
in 1813, and the Mainz revolutionaries from the March Revolution of 1848/49
until they were pardoned in 1850.
In 1900, the Iron Tower was to be torn down, but was saved by the Mainz Association of Antiquities (Mainzer Altertumsverein) and in 1905 became the property of the city. After this, it housed a painter's studio and small flats. The courtyard behind the wall on the Rhine side was used for temporary storage of old stone monuments.
. The wall around it was removed in the early 1970s in the course of renovation of the neighbouring Zum Brand housing development. On both sides of the tower, the adjacent buildings and a portion of the city wall were reconstructed to reproduce the mediaeval structures as accurately as possible. The ashlar
corners and painted joints were also restored based on remnants of the original.
, are also based in the tower.
The tower may be visited as part of the national European Heritage Days
, Tag des offenen Denkmals.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
tower dating to the early 13th century, and modified in the 15th century, which with the Wood Tower
Wood Tower
The Wood Tower is a mediaeval tower in Mainz, Germany, with the Iron Tower and the Alexander Tower one of three remaining towers from the city walls. Its current Gothic appearance dates to the early 15th century...
and the Alexander Tower is one of three remaining towers from the city walls of Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Its name derives from the Iron Market (Eisenmarkt), which was held in the immediate vicinity until the 19th century.
The Iron Tower served as a watchtower and gate to the city, and later as a gaol. It was badly damaged in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and reconstructed in the 1960s. Today it houses various organisations and arts projects and is used for art exhibitions.
Historical background: the defences of Mainz
Since late Roman times, the city of Mainz (then Mogontiacum) was defended by a wall with watchtowers and city gates. The first wall was built shortly before the destruction of the limesLimes Germanicus
The Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
in 259/260 CE. Not long after 350, in the course of the abandonment of the Roman camp
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
, this wall was lowered and rubble (spolia
Spolia
Spolia is a modern art-historical term used to describe the re-use of earlier building material or decorative sculpture on new monuments...
) from earlier construction used to enlarge and strengthen it. After the Romans withdrew, it was improved at various times, particularly in the Merovingian and Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
periods, becoming what archaeologists studying the city have called the "Roman-Carolingian" wall.
However, in 1160 the continuity of the city's defences was drastically interrupted. There was a longstanding dispute between the citizens of Mainz and their archbishop, Arnold of Selenhofen
Arnold of Selenhofen
Arnold of Selenhofen was the archbishop of Mainz from 1153 to his assassination in the benedictine abbey St. Jakob, where he took shelter from the raging crowd....
(and also with the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Frederick Barbarossa); after the archbishop was murdered, the emperor imposed an imperial ban on the city. The city walls and towers were razed (although it is possible that on the inland side the destruction was only partial).
However, Mainz was an important political and strategic ally in the Hohenstaufens' struggle for supremacy in the German Empire against the Welfs, and so in circa
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1190–1200 the city was granted permission to rebuild the defences. The Iron Tower was built in this phase of construction, as one of a total of 34 gate towers and watchtowers.
Style and construction phases
The round-arched late RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
gateway at the base of the tower dates to the first half of the 13th century, probably around 1240. On the Rhine side, the arch is embellished with two Romanesque
Romanesque art
Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
carvings of lions in sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, atop ornamental capitals over fluted cornerstones. One lion grasps a ram in its paws, sometimes interpreted as a symbol of the power of the Church, while the second grasps a dragon or other fabulous animal, symbolising secular power. The lions, an embodiment of defensive vigilance in Romanesque art, are executed in a characteristically stylised manner.
In the first half of the 15th century, the tower was raised to 6 storeys. Towards the end of the 16th century (or possibly as early as the start of the 14th), the gateway lost its function and the entrance to the city was moved to the so-called "Little Iron Door" (Eisentürlein) in a smaller building attached to the tower.
In the 18th century, the Iron Tower was enclosed on the Rhine side by a wall. This remained until the early years of the 20th century. On the other, Löhrstraße, side, there were small Fachwerk houses until 1945.
Mediaeval and modern uses
Until the 16th century, the Iron Tower was one of the towers and gateways in the city walls. In the Middle Ages, shipping on the Rhine was of major importance, so the riverside was heavily used and was the trading centre of the city. Thus the Iron Tower and the other Rhine-side towers of the city (the Wood Tower, Fish Tower, etc.) formed a secular counterbalance to the many church towers on the city skyline. In the Middle Ages, the Mainz iron traders held their market around the tower, giving it the name by which it is still known.Beginning in the 17th century, the upper storeys of the Iron Tower were used as the main gaol of what was then the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
city of Mayence
Mont-Tonnerre
Mont-Tonnerre is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Germany. It is named after the highest point in the Rhenish Palatinate, the Donnersberg. It was the southernmost of four départements formed in 1798, when the west bank of the Rhine was annexed by France...
. Prominent prisoners held there included some officers of the Lützow Free Corps
Lützow Free Corps
Lützow Free Corps was a voluntary force of the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was named after its commander, Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow. They were also widely known as "Lützower Jäger" or "Schwarze Jäger" .-Origins:...
in 1813, and the Mainz revolutionaries from the March Revolution of 1848/49
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
until they were pardoned in 1850.
In 1900, the Iron Tower was to be torn down, but was saved by the Mainz Association of Antiquities (Mainzer Altertumsverein) and in 1905 became the property of the city. After this, it housed a painter's studio and small flats. The courtyard behind the wall on the Rhine side was used for temporary storage of old stone monuments.
Destruction and rebuilding
In World War II, the entire centre of the city, including the Iron Tower, was severely damaged. After an air raid in February 1945, the roof and interior of the tower were completely destroyed by fire, as were the houses built around the tower. In 1958 it was rebuilt and given a new slate-covered hipped roofHip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
. The wall around it was removed in the early 1970s in the course of renovation of the neighbouring Zum Brand housing development. On both sides of the tower, the adjacent buildings and a portion of the city wall were reconstructed to reproduce the mediaeval structures as accurately as possible. The ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
corners and painted joints were also restored based on remnants of the original.
Today
The Iron Tower currently houses the Kunstverein Eisenturm Mainz (Mainz Iron Tower Art Association), which has a nationwide reputation in Germany. The artists use the tower as a gallery and exhibition space and award a prize named for it. Other public services and organisations, for example the Mainz photography club and Mainz RotaractRotaract
Rotaract originally began as a Rotary International youth programme in 1968 and has now grown into a major Rotary-sponsored organisation of over 8,700 clubs spread around the world and 200,000 + members. It is a service, leadership and community service organisation for young men and women between...
, are also based in the tower.
The tower may be visited as part of the national European Heritage Days
European Heritage Days
European Heritage Days is a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission involving all 50 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention under the motto, Europe: a common heritage. The annual programme offers opportunities to visit buildings, monuments and sites, many of...
, Tag des offenen Denkmals.
Sources
- Ernst Stephan. Das Bürgerhaus in Mainz. Das deutsche Bürgerhaus XVIII. Tübingen: Wasmuth, 1974, repr. 1982. ISBN 3-8030-0020-3
- Rolf Dörrlamm, Susanne Feick, Hartmut Fischer and Hans Kersting. Mainzer Zeitzeugen aus Stein. Baustile erzählen 1000 Jahre Geschichte. Mainz: Hermann Schmidt, 2001. ISBN 3-87439-525-1
- Günther Gillessen, ed. Wenn Steine reden könnten - Mainzer Gebäude und ihre Geschichten. Mainz: von Zabern, 1991. ISBN 3-8053-1206-7