ruth901
33 steps, seven and a half meters high and four and a half tons of steel: Since Monday morning, next to the “Turm am Frauentörlein” – popularly known as the “Witch Tower” – there has been a staircase that makes the medieval structure accessible.
Fulda – The spiral staircase, through which the so-called Hextenturm is accessible, reaches up to the height of the former battlement of the Fulda city wall – although not permanently, but only as part of city tours. 33 steps lead up to the entrance, which is seven and a half meters high.
33 steps to the entrance – the Witch's Tower in Fulda is now accessible
Inside the tower you have to climb another 42 steps to reach the viewing platform, which is 16 meters high. From here, the eight dormer windows offer a wonderful all-round view of the cathedral, the Andreasberg and across the old town City parish church, where a series of special video recordings were recently made.
At least as impressive is the view inside and into the eleven-meter-high roof beams. “The tower now has a long-distance effect, which is the purpose of a tower,” emphasizes city planning officer Daniel Schreiner (independent). It hasn't had this character as a landmark until now, and even today when you walk through Kanalstrasse you can't really grasp its dimensions. The spiral staircase is also slightly hidden, as the steel structure should not protrude into the public space.
It is erected using a crane. The work took almost an hour under the supervision of Karl Winfried and Maximilian Vogel from the Vogel blacksmith and metal workshop in Kämmerzell. The four and a half ton staircase is first erected on a low-loader using a rope and then hoisted over the small wall next to the tower. Karl Winfried Vogel estimates that he and his employees, who also made the 3.5-ton interior staircase, spent a total of around 2,000 hours of work on the witch's tower.
The installation of the stairs, with which the tower is accessible via urban terrain, now marks a significant milestone in the tower renovation, explains Christoph Lieding, the responsible project manager in the building management of the city of Fulda. Now the finishing touches and remaining work needs to be done on the outdoor area, which is directly adjacent to Caritas properties. Its board member, Ansgar Erb, gets an idea of the new surroundings on Monday morning.
Witch Tower in Fulda was renovated according to historical standards
The fact that the “Witch Tower” now has a pointed roof again is due, among other things, to the fact that the building was almost in disrepair and had to be sealed during the renovation. After all, moisture had already penetrated the masonry. The Brosamer engraving with the city view of Fulda from 1550 serves as the historical template for the design.
background
The Frauentörlein, which was located in what is now the best-preserved tower of the Fulda city fortifications, was once the entrance to the monastery district. The designation Witch Tower only dates back to the 19th century. Although there was at times a women's prison in the walls, it was never connected to the witch hunts in the early modern period. A witch was never imprisoned here.
As city planning officer Schreiner and the head of building management in the city administration, Frank Vollmer, report, considerations about the future of the tower have been going on for a long time. “Up until the 1960s, that’s what I read from the files,” says Vollmer. The thought games ranged from the abandonment of the decay and continued existence as a ruin to the renovation that has now been implemented. Then the fundamental decision was made to preserve it.
Before work began, the condition of the building, which was already heavily overgrown with plants, was actually closer to ruin. City officials and architect Sabine Petermann are all the more satisfied with the result of the project, which costs almost 900,000 euros and was started in May 2024. At that time, costs of 600,000 euros were still calculated
The joy of the implementation becomes particularly clear during the first ascent of the tower. In the future, 15 people will be allowed into the tower at the same time during city tours. There is no room for much more on the viewing area, as the 13 representatives from construction companies, the city and the press show at the site visit. In addition, for safety reasons, no more people are allowed in because the stairs inside the tower lead steeply and narrowly into the roof beams. According to municipal press spokesman Johannes Heller, the tours will take place from the time after Hesse day.
