Bürgerturm (Neuenstein)

The Bürgerturm stands in Neuenstein, a small town in the Hohenlohe region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the last remnant of the town’s old fortifications, built in 1620 by Georg Kern to strengthen defences at the start of the Thirty Years’ War. The round stone tower rises 26 metres high on the north-eastern corner of the former wall, where the ground is highest. It was once called the Upper Gate Tower and also bore the names Bärcher or Rope Tower. Though never heavily involved in fighting, the tower later served as a poorhouse and night watchman’s lodging. After the war the structure fell into disrepair, and in 1835 the town considered demolishing it. The welsche Haube, the bulbous roof that once crowned the tower, was removed the following year. By 1900 the building needed further repairs, so an iron band was wrapped around it for support. In 1911 the town gave the tower to Prince Christian Kraft as a birthday gift, possibly to relieve itself of maintenance costs. The prince’s family restored the tower in the 1970s and handed it to the Schwäbischer Albverein, whose local group converted it into a hikers’ base by 1982. Today the Bürgerturm functions as a hikers’ hostel, clubhouse for the local branch of the Schwäbischer Albverein, and viewing platform. Visitors climb the spiral staircase inside the thick walls to reach the top, where the outlook stretches across the Hohenlohe plain towards Waldenburg. To the south the view is framed by the hills of the Swabian-Franconian Forest, which begin just a few kilometres behind the town.