Weißer Turm, Medieval tower in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany.
The Weißer Turm at Altenbaustraße 5 is a three-storey tower house of rubble stone masonry, plastered white, with rectangular windows cut around 1700. Its baroque hood dates from 1668, and a two-storey annex with a mansard roof was added on the west side in the 18th century. The ground floor holds a chapel dedicated to Saint Hermann Joseph of Steinfeld.
The White Tower is the oldest building in Ahrweiler, a former fortified residential tower from the second half of the 13th century that belonged to the Prüm noble fief and changed owners frequently. After 1689 the Premonstratensians of Steinfeld Abbey moved in and managed their Ahrweiler vineyards from here; around 1700 the Lords of Stein-Kallenfels acquired it and had it extensively rebuilt. In the 19th century it passed to the town, and in 1908 the local historian Peter Joerres set up the Ahrgau Museum in it.
The name "Weißer Turm" probably derives from the white habits of the Premonstratensians of Steinfeld Abbey, who moved in after 1689 to manage their Ahrweiler vineyards; before that it was called "Staffeler Turm". Since 1993 the tower has housed the museum of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, and the ground floor still holds the chapel consecrated to Saint Hermann Joseph of Steinfeld.
The tower is centrally located and easy to reach on foot, with parking available in nearby streets. The best time to visit and photograph it is during daylight hours when the white walls stand out clearly against the surroundings.
The rectangular windows were only broken into the rubble-stone walls around 1700, replacing the original openings of this 13th-century tower house. The baroque hood on top dates from 1668, and the two-storey annex with mansard roof was added on the west side by the Premonstratensians in the 18th century.
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