Weißer Turm

The Weißer Turm stands in Bergen, a district of Frankfurt, as a late Gothic defensive tower completed in 1472. Its bright exterior gives the tower the name Weißer Turm.

The tower formed part of Bergen’s medieval fortifications, which the Counts of Hanau-Münzenberg began building in 1440. Those works protected Hanau territory from Frankfurt.

Bergen’s defences included two gate towers, three towers and five rondelles, forming a medieval fortified system. Bergen served as an administrative and judicial centre for the surrounding territory.

The fortifications also expressed disputes between Hanau-Münzenberg and the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt over territorial power. The pointed roof recalls the shape of a sugar loaf.

The Counts intended the fortifications to protect Bergen’s citizens and reinforce their claims against Frankfurt. Most of Bergen’s fortifications were dismantled in the nineteenth century, while the Weißer Turm escaped demolition.

Its surviving structure connects late Gothic architecture with Frankfurt’s medieval territorial history. The tower preserves that contested local history.