Wehrturm, Fortified tower and bell tower in Perchtoldsdorf, Austria
Wehrturm is a free-standing fortified and bell tower in Perchtoldsdorf, about 60 metres high, with a rectangular plan and five storeys. Its walls taper from 2.35 metres at the base to 1.3 metres at the fourth upper floor, and a gallery carried by 36 corbels encircles the bell chamber at roughly 35 metres. Four small polygonal watchturrets with onion domes sit at the roof eaves.
Construction began in 1450 following a Hungarian invasion and continued until the structure was completed in 1521. It served as a crucial defensive structure for the region throughout the medieval and early modern periods.
The tower's ground floor, originally a chapel, now holds a sacred museum with a baroque crucifixion group from the former Leonhardiberg pilgrimage church and four original stone figures from the Trinity Column. The first upper floor covers local secular history, including guild chests and documents on the theologian Thomas Ebendorfer (1388–1464).
The tower opens to visitors from May through September on Sundays and holidays between 13:00 and 18:00. Wear comfortable shoes since climbing multiple flights of stairs is necessary, and the views from the top provide a good overview of the surrounding town.
The tower houses a mechanical baroque clock from 1698 that still marks the hours on an upper level. Remarkably, the structure withstood ten direct hits during the final days of World War II, leaving visible marks that speak to its durability.
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