Art in Bern · Building

Blutturm

The Blutturm on Langmauerweg is a half-round defence tower of 1468–1470 on the Aare and a rare remnant of Bern's old city fortifications.

Address: Langmauerweg 114
Built: 1468–1470
Architect: unknown; built for the city and republic of Bern
Style: Late medieval defence tower
Today: Protected monument on the Aare path
Protection: cultural property of regional significance (KGS B), worthy of protection (Bauinventar)

About the building

Down by the Aare, where Langmauerweg follows the bank, stands a squat round tower with a conical tiled roof. Its walls are mostly of tufa, 2.1 metres thick at the sides. From the tower a wall climbs the slope, the Haldensperrmauer, reaching as far as the Wurstemberger Tower on Hodlerstrasse.

The tower was built from 1468 to 1470 on behalf of the city and republic of Bern. It is half-round and was originally open towards the town, to the east. It measures just over eight metres up to the base of the roof, and about 15 metres including the roof. Tower and wall closed off the slope between the town on the plateau and the river. Which ring of fortifications they belonged to is counted differently: the building inventory speaks of the third western fortification, Wikipedia of the fourth western belt, whose northern end the tower formed. This ring once also included the Christoffelturm, the best-known city gate at the upper end of the old town, which was demolished in 1865. Today the Blutturm and the slope wall are the largest surviving remnant of this fortification.

The tower has only borne its name since the 18th century: in 1732 Johann Rudolf Gruner first called it Blutturm ("blood tower") in a written work. Where the name comes from is not documented. In 1756 the name "Hexenthurm" (witches' tower) appears, and in 1783 "Harzthurm" in an official paper. The first known depiction is by Hans Rudolf Manuel, who showed the tower in his view of the city in 1549. From 1806 the anatomical institute bleached skeletons in the tower, which led to repeated complaints from the population.

The tower has been under cantonal protection since 1908 and is a cultural property of regional importance. According to Burgenwelt, the ring it belonged to arose after the Laupen War, when Bern was once more extended and fortified to the west from 1344; of that wall mainly the northern flank with the Blutturm on the bank has survived.

A detail to look for: the porous tufa of the masonry, clearly different from the sandstone of the old town.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Langmauerweg 114 · Wikipedia (de): Blutturm (Bern) · Burgenwelt: Stadtbefestigung Bern · Wikidata: Q15789074