Powder tower

The powder tower ofPrague

The powder tower in Meschede

Apowder tower(German:Pulverturm), occasionally alsopowder house(Pulverhaus), was a building used by themilitaryor byminingcompanies, frequently atower,to storegunpowderor, later,explosives.They were common until the 20th century, but were increasingly succeeded bygunpowder magazinesandammunition depots.The explosion of a powder tower could be catastrophic as, for example, in theDelft Explosionof 1654.

List of powder towers

Buildings formerly used as powder towers include the following:

Germany

These are sorted bystates of Germany,since there are so many.

Baden-Württemberg

• Pulverturm, Leutkirch im Allgäu
• Pulverturm, Vellberg

Bavaria

• Pulverturm, Bad Reichenhall
• Pulverturm, Burghausen
• Färberturm, Gunzenhausen
• Pulverturm, Lindau
• Pulverturm, Memmingen
• Pulverturm, Munich
• Pulverturm, Ochsenfurt
• Pulverturm, Straubing

Brandenburg

• Pulverturm, Templin

Bremen

• Bremer Pulvertürme

Lower Saxony

• Pulverturm, Bad Bentheim
• KnochenturminEinbeck
• Pulverturm, Hameln
• Pulverturm Lingen, Ems
• Pulverturm, Oldenburg

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

• Pulverturm, Anklam

ThePulverturm, Demmin,bears the name, but was probably not used for this purpose.

North Rhine-Westphalia

• Langer Turm, Aachen
• Pulvertürmchenin Aachen
• Pulverturm, Meschede
• BuddenturminMünster
• Pulverturm, Rheinberg
• Pulverturm, Wiedenbrück

Rhineland-Palatinate

• Pulverturm, Andernach
• Pulverturm, Linz am Rhein
• Pulverturm, Mainz

Saxony

• Pulverturm, Johanngeorgenstadt
• Pulverturm inZwickau

Saxony-Anhalt

• Pulverturm, Quedlinburg

Thuringia

• Pulverturm, Greiz
• Pulverturm, Jena

Austria

• Pulverturm, Krems

Czechia

• Powder Tower, Prague(Prašná brána)

Italy

• Pulverturm, Schlanders

Latvia

• Powder Tower, Riga(Pulvertornis)

Namibia

• Powder Tower, Otjimbingwe,Namibia

Switzerland

• MalteserturminChur
• Pulverturm, Merano

• Pulverturm, Zofingen

USA

• Powder House (Dedham, Massachusetts)

Gallery

• 
  The Powder Tower in Prague
• 
  Pulverturm in Oldenburg with remains of the old town wall
• 
  Pulverturm Wiedenbrück, exterior view
• 
  Pulverturm in Landsberg am Lech
• 
  Pulverturm in Lindau
• 
  Pulverturm in Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate
• 
  Pulverturm in Riga
• 
  Pulverturm in Memmingen
• 
  Langer Turm in Aachen
• 
  Pulverturm in Linz am Rhein
• 
  Pulverturm in Rottenburg/Neckar
• 
  Pulverturm in Johanngeorgenstadt
• 
  Pulverturm inOtjimbingwe,Namibia
• 
  Pulverturm in Zofingen
• 
  Pulverturm in Zwickau

Literature

• Adolf Weinbrenner:Pulvermagazin,inOtto Lueger(ed.):Lexikon der gesamten Technik und ihrer Hilfswissenschaften,Vol. 7 Stuttgart, Leipzig 1909, pp. 274–275;digitalisedatzeno.org
• Brewer, Ted (1999).Czech and Slovak Republics Guide.Londres: Open Road Publishing.
• Legal, Claus; Legal, Gert (2020).Friedrich II. von Preußen und Quintus Icilius: Der König und der Obrist.Munique: utzverlag GmbH.
• Prokopovych, Markian (2009).Habsburg Lemberg: Architecture, Public Space, and Politics in the Galician Capital, 1772-1914.Lafaiete Oeste, Indiana: Imprensa da Universidade de Purdue.