The Schelmentoren in Heerlen

Heerlen

Heerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg. It forms part of Parkstad Limburg, , an agglomeration of about 220,000 inhabitants.After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen...

 is a Medieval Building that has served as a defendable living tower for the Here van Are (sometimes called the counts van Ahr-Hochstaden) and their successors. As part of the Landsfort Herle

Landsfort Herle

Landsfort Herle was a fortification with moat in, what now is, the centre of Heerlen , it was probably built by the counts van Ahr-Hochstaden . The name Landsfort comes from the fact that the fortification come under the responsibility of the land...

, it served as a prison

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

 tower. It is believed to be built on command of Theoderich van Are

Theoderich van Are

Count Theoderich van Are was a nephew of bishop Udo van Toul, has uncle bestowed upon him Heerlen and Steinfeld in 1065 . He was made count of Are by Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV ....

. What is certain is that the building existed in the 12th century.

Name

Although now known as the Schelmentoren, it has had many names (Bickelstein (or Bickersteyntoren )). In the year 1225 it was part of landsfort Herle (sometimes referred to as Castrum)