Hausmannsturm
Hausmannsturm stands on the north side of Dresden Castle, whose oldest surviving section began around 1400. Its octagonal shaft rises beneath a copper-covered dome, an open lantern and a pointed spire. At 100.27 metres, the tower forms a striking part of Dresden’s skyline.
Wolf Caspar von Klengel completed the present Baroque form between 1674 and 1676. Dresden’s first lightning rod appeared here in 1775, before the tower reached its full height. Air raids destroyed the spire in 1945, and reconstruction restored the 30-metre, 21-tonne copper structure in 1991. A mobile crane lifted the spire into place on its third attempt, while its weather vane adds another six metres.
The Great Castle Clock dates from the early 1740s and also drives four city clock dials. Its seven-metre pendulum swings once every two and a half seconds. You reach the viewing platform at 38.62 metres by climbing 222 steps through the castle’s west wing. Above it, the weather vane carries the Hebrew inscription “Jehovah nissi”, meaning “The LORD is my banner.”
- City
- Dresden
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myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.