# Hardturm

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Canonical page: https://mytuur.com/en/city/zurich/spot/hardturm/

Content updated: 2026-06-22

Hardturm is a medieval residential tower in Zurich, built within the city’s outer defensive line during the twelfth or thirteenth century. The square tower formed part of the Letzimauer, Zurich’s outer city wall.

It remains the city’s only surviving secular building from the High Middle Ages, giving its architecture a distinctive historical place. Its lower shaft has walls measuring about 3.5 metres thick.

Inside, those walls leave a room measuring about four by four metres, originally accessible only from above. A narrow west-facing slit window marks the lower residential floors.

The four-storey structure has a pyramid-shaped roof and a stair tower, while four oriel windows date from 1693. Floodwater destroyed the tower in 1343, before rebuilding followed.

The first documentary mention dates to 1336, although the tower probably predates that record. Private ownership of the building began in the sixteenth century.

Its earlier role involved defending Zurich and overseeing a crossing over the Limmat, while later use turned the tower into a residence. The Schoeller and Company spinning mill used Hardturm as living and meeting space from 1882.

Two concrete observation shelters joined the river’s defensive line during the Second World War. Monument protection began in 1964, and comprehensive renovation followed in 1999.

The Hardturm’s thick masonry, slit window, oriel windows and stair tower preserve several phases of Zurich’s architectural history. Jakob Christoph Heer also described the ivy-covered tower beside the green riverbank in a poem.

- City: [Zurich](https://mytuur.com/en/city/zurich/)

## Photos

- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Hardturm_68631ad3717a3e13abfb8b61_0.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Hardturm_Limmatstellung.JPG)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Hardturm_68631ad3717a3e13abfb8b61_1.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Hardturm_nordost.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Hardturm_68631ad3717a3e13abfb8b61_2.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Hardturm_suedost.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Hardturm_68631ad3717a3e13abfb8b61_3.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Hardturm.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Hardturm_68631ad3717a3e13abfb8b61_4.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Zürich_-_Hardturm_IMG_5848_ShiftN.jpg)

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