Bärenturm (Coburg)

The Bärenturm stands in Coburg’s Untere Anlage, part of a protected three-building complex in Upper Franconia. Built in the 13th or 14th century as a defensive tower, it once formed part of the city’s medieval wall. The tower’s name comes from the brief period in 1822 when two bears were kept in its basement. The site’s history includes a 1466 conversion into a powder depot and later a 19th-century redesign by Duke Ernst I. Architect Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Streib added the flanking wings, while Max Frommann gave the tower its present tall hipped roof in 1906. Inside, the building has been adapted over time for residential use, with garages and expanded attics added in the 20th century. Visitors see a three-storey sandstone tower with walls up to 1.6 metres thick. Two smaller half-timbered houses with slate roofs stand at right angles to the main block, their stone bases housing garages. The tower’s north side carries a modern staircase, and its façade features pointed Gothic-style windows and iron balcony grilles. The complex remains a quiet corner of the old town, its stonework and angles marking centuries of change.