Brugg (Schwarzer Turm) Castle

The Black Tower is a tower castle in the Swiss city of Brugg. It is the oldest building and landmark of the city. It is located on the northern edge of the old town, directly next to the bridge that crosses a narrow point of the Aare river and gave the city its name.

The construction of the tower took place in the last quarter of the 12th century and was probably ordered by Count Albrecht III of Habsburg. The ancestral seat of the Habsburgs, the Habsburg Castle, is only a few kilometers away, and the city, which was built shortly thereafter, served for a time as a residence for the Habsburg counts. In 1238, the Black Tower was first mentioned in a document.

Since some of the building materials used for its construction came from the ruins of the nearby Roman legionary camp Vindonissa, it was long assumed that the tower was of Roman origin and was therefore mistakenly called the "Roman Tower". It was only in the 19th century that it was recognized that the material had been reused and that the tower had therefore been built at least 800 years later than assumed.

After the new bridge was built in 1532, the tower appeared too small to the city lords. Three years later, the uppermost walls and the roof were therefore demolished, and new upper floors were then built; this increased the tower by about five meters. On the north side, facing the river, a bay window was added in 1536. Since the addition of the town hall on the south and west sides in 1579, the Black Tower has remained unchanged. From 1846, the tower served as a district prison; in the course of the centralization of the penal system, the cells were closed in November 2006.