Town fortifications Jena - Roter Turm

The Red Tower is part of Jena's old city wall. It is located at the intersection of today's Löbdergraben and Fischergasse streets. Around 1350, Jena's city fortifications had progressed to such an extent that one could speak of a complete system. It consisted of moats, walls, zwinger areas, three gate towers, four corner bastions, and twelve subsequently added shell towers. The Red Tower, a shell tower at the southeast corner of the city wall, was converted into an open gun bastion with loopholes and gun chambers around 1430 as part of extensive construction measures on the fortifications. During archaeological excavations in 1995, finds from the suburban settlement period in the 11th/12th century and isolated pieces dating back to the Bronze Age were recovered. In more recent times, only the plinth remains in its original state. In 1870, the natural stone plinth was built over with red exposed brickwork. A four-story masonry building for residential purposes was created, with wooden beam ceilings and internal half-timbered walls. The approximately 19-meter-high tower is founded about 3 meters below ground level and has a diameter of just over twelve meters. On August 7, 1995, at 3:30 p.m., the tower structure collapsed during renovation work due to the failure of the outer masonry. Four construction workers died in this accident, and four others were injured. The 51 cm thick outer masonry on the 1st floor consisted of a thin outer shell of brick and an inner shell of soft calcareous tufa. To replace the damaged cornice running under the windows, it had been broken out in several places at the same time, so that the weight of the upper floors in these areas could predominantly only have been supported by the inner masonry shell. This was apparently not sufficiently load-bearing and gave way. In the years 1999–2000, the tower was rebuilt in its historical appearance with a contract volume of 1.3 million euros. For a time, the Red Tower housed, among other things, the exhibition rooms of the Jena Art Association. In 2025, a digital agency will be located in the premises.