The town wall

Finished  around1450, the town wall enclosed and protected the town from attacks in the south, west and north, whereas in the east the city moat (parts of it can still be seen today) including the River Spree and its marshland formed a natural protective barrier.

Six towers are part of the city wall:

1.   The “Pulverturm” (gunpowder tower), the    arsenal where weapons were stored;

2.   the “Darreturm” (oast house), which was used for drying hops and barley for breweries;

3.   the “Luckauer Turm” called “Dicker Turm” (Big Tower) today;

4.   the “Münzturm” (mint tower) since the town had a temporary right of coinage;

5.   the “Storchenturm” ( stork tower), which was used by storks as a nesting place until its restoration and reconstruction;

6.   the “Mäuseturm” (mice tower), which is the only octagonal one. It is said to have been a major meeting place of the city’s mice since it was used to store grain in the Middle Ages.