Bridge tower

The Old Lahn Bridge in Limburg an der Lahn with its surviving bridge tower

A bridge tower (German: Brückenturm) was a type of fortified tower built on a bridge. They were typically built in the period up to early modern times as part of a city or town wall or castle. There is usually a tower at both ends of the bridge. Tower Bridge in London is perhaps the best known example but there are many in Europe.

Function

Bridge tower on the Old Bridge in Frankfurt am Main around 1600

These towers were built in pre-medieval and medieval times to guard access to the bridge and to enable the charging of tolls on important roads crossing rivers, usually near towns and cities. The rivers were often part of the defences of these settlements. As a result, it was important from a defensive perspective that the bridges did not allow attacking enemies to break in. The bridges acted as a bulwark and often had a small drawbridge. In addition to their genuine protective and defensive functions they also played a symbolic and architectural role. Often these towers were the first public buildings that the travellers saw when approaching the city.

The high cost of such towers was usually paid for by charging tolls. The gates of bridge towers were closed at night, so that no-one could cross the bridge during silent hours.

Surviving bridge towers

Germany

Bridge tower on the Nibelungen Bridge in Worms

• Bridge tower of the stone bridge in Regensburg (built before the 13th century)
• Medieval tower on the Old Lahn Bridge in Limburg an der Lahn (built 1315–1354)
• Bridge Gate in Heidelberg (15th century, remodelled 1786–88)
• Towers on the South Bridge in Mainz (built 1860–1862)
• Neo-Romanesque tower of the Nibelungen Bridge in Worms (built 1897–1900)
• Bridge Gate in Traben-Trarbach (built 1899)
• Portal of the Old Harburg Elbe Bridge (built 1899)
• Bridge gate in Miltenberg (built 1900)
• Tower of the Friedrich Ebert Bridge in Duisburg (built 1904–1907)

Elsewhere in Europe

• The tower of the Ponte Milvio in Rome, Italy
• The Old Town and Lesser Quarter bridge towers on the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic (built 1357)
• Bridge tower in Stříbro (Mies), Czech Republic (built 1555)
• Tower Bridge in London, England (built 1894)

External links

• Description of the bridge towers of Regensburg at baufachinformation.de