Turm VI (Nothburga)

Turm VI (Nothburga) stands on the Pöstlingberg in Linz, forming the entrance tower of the hilltop fort. The fort occupied the highest point of the Maximilianische Turmlinie, a defensive ring built around Linz. Its standard design used three concentric stone walls, vaulted brick ceilings, and several levels beneath an earth-covered glacis. A gun platform crowned the structure, while soldiers, ammunition, and supplies occupied the lower spaces. A moat surrounded the tower, and a drawbridge once led across to the entrance at the rear.

Construction began in 1831, and the military received the completed defensive system in 1838. Archduke Maximilian Joseph of Austria-Este planned the line after Napoleon’s forces overcame earlier defences in 1809. Each tower could support its neighbours with cannon fire, while thick masonry protected the garrison inside. New artillery soon made the fortifications obsolete, and many towers later disappeared as Linz expanded. The surviving structures on the Pöstlingberg preserve a clear link between military architecture and Linz’s changing cityscape.