Köthener Torturm

The Köthener Torturm stands in the southern part of Aken’s old town, near the Schützenplatz where Köthener Straße meets Komturstraße. It forms part of the town’s medieval defences, built when Aken became a planned settlement in the High Middle Ages. The surrounding streets still follow the old routes to Köthen, Zerbst, Dessau and Calbe. A stone city wall replaced an earlier wooden palisade, first recorded in 1335. Three of the four original gate towers survive today. The tower itself was raised in 1551 on foundations dating back to 1288, making it the tallest of Aken’s gate towers at 21 metres. Unlike its brick-built neighbours, it was constructed from rubble stone, plastered above and marked with corner quoins. A Renaissance curved gable crowns the top, and since 1900 two clock faces look out over the town. After restoration in 1996 the tower remains a protected monument, with a stone plaque by Robert Propf on the inner side. Visitors find a sturdy stone cylinder rising above the cobbled square, its clock faces easy to read from the street. The adjacent brick archway preserves the original gateway. The tower’s clean lines and single material give it a quiet authority among the town’s older buildings. From the Schützenplatz the view stretches along Köthener Straße toward the river Elbe.