Eulenturm Tangermünde, Medieval fortified tower in Tangermünde, Germany.
The Eulenturm is a 24-metre defensive tower that belonged to the Hünerdorfer Tor double-gate complex of Tangermünde's town fortifications. Its square lower section, built around 1300, held a dungeon; the octagonal upper storey with the guard room was added around 1460/70. Projecting oriels gave the guards a view in all directions, and a battlemented platform with four gargoyles tops the tower.
The square base of the Eulenturm was built around 1300 as the inner gate of the Hünerdorfer Tor double-gate complex, and it held a dungeon. Around 1460/70 the octagonal upper storey with the watch room was added. The outer gate was demolished in 1871, and the adjoining city wall came down in the late 1880s, leaving the tower standing free.
The name Eulenturm (Owl Tower) is documented, but the sources do not explain its origin; the tower served as the inner gate of the Hünerdorfer Tor double-gate system. Its watchtower room and projecting bays let guards see in all directions. The southwest corner still shows the springing of the inner gate arch, and a wall-walk once led from that arch into the tower before being bricked up.
The tower stands free since the city wall north of it was demolished in the late 1880s, so it can be walked around on all sides. The blocked inner gate arch is still visible at the southwest corner. The platform with its battlement ring is reached via the former watch floor; the four gargoyles drain the top.
The tower's name refers to an owl, though the sources do not explain why. What visitors can still trace is the structure itself: on the southwest corner the springing of the inner gate arch survives, and the former junction of the town wall with the tower remains visible. The walkway that once crossed the arch into the tower was later walled up.
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