Rüthener Hexenturm, Medieval defense tower in Rüthen, Germany

The Rüthener Hexenturm is a defense tower in Rüthen, North Rhine-Westphalia, featuring Gothic elements like thick stone walls and arrow slits. The structure rises across several stories and displays the half-round shape typical of medieval fortifications.

The tower was built around 1300 as part of Rüthen's city defenses. In the 17th century it underwent a grim transformation, serving as a prison during the regional witch hunts.

The tower preserves the stories of over 100 people from Rüthen who suffered during the witch hunts. The exhibition shows personal details about their lives and fates in a direct way.

Individual and group guided tours of the tower and its witch-hunt exhibition can be booked through the Rüthen city archive. The exhibition was put together by the Kulturring Rüthen with support from the NRW-Stiftung.

The exhibition includes a cup, because inquisitors kept the accused conscious during torture and gave a strengthening drink when fainting threatened. It also documents individual lives, such as Grete Eickhoff, beheaded and burned in 1659, four years after her mother. A bronze relief by Bert Gerresheim honors Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld and Michael Stappert.