Inscriptions of Ulm

Butchers' Tower

Who are we? - Contacts - Collaboration - Site map
Inscriptions of Ulm < Inscriptions of Germany < Inscriptions < Areas of Interest < Welcome

The Ulm Butchers' Tower belongs to a medieval city gate just behind the still existing city wall on the Danube riverside. Some historical explanations are given by the modern inscription described here.

Photo Ulm Butchers' Tower: view from the city wall

View from the near city wall

Photo Ulm Butchers' Tower: view from the city wall

Inscription

Photo Ulm Butchers' Tower: general view

View from the city wall on Ulm's riverside

Photo Ulm Butchers' Tower: city gate

City gate in the Butchers' Tower

Photos: Hans-Rudolf Hower, 2012

Photo Ulm Butchers' Tower: view from Neu-Ulm

View from beyond the Danube river (Neu-Ulm)

Inscription

Original Text (in German)

Metzgerturm

Um die Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts
in die staufische Stadtbefestigung eingefügt mit einem
Durchgang für die 1349 davor erbaute
- 1912 teilweise abgebrochene Stadtmetzig.
Spätere Bodensenkungen lassen den Turm um ca. 2 m
in der Diagonale[n] überhängen.

Translation

Butchers' Tower

Added to the Hohenstaufen city fortification
round the middle of the 14th century,
with a passage way to the city's slaughterhouse
built in 1349 and partially demolished in 1912.
Later ground settlements have made the
tower diagonally overhang about 2 m.

Comment

In medieval times, many towns and cities had the same problem which consisted in effectively protecting themselves and their population against exterior attacks but using the less possible financial means and having the shortest possible exterior wall. This generally caused recurrent enlargements due to the growth of the population or enhancements due to the progress of weaponry. In many cases, the inner town walls that had thus become useless were demolished to facilitate traffic and to get "new" building material but in other cases - such as Ulm - some parts of the former town walls are still intact, nowadays being touristic sights or having found a new function as housing spaces. This explains the near co-existence of several fortification rings in Ulm, which is particularly visible round the Butchers' Tower, where the outermost city wall is so near to the tower that I could take the picture of the tower's inscription without leaving the promenade installed on the wall but I could not step back enough to take a picture of the whole tower.

The most astonishing fact is that so old buildings like the Butchers' Tower have not been collapsing for many centuries in spite of their overhanging. Modern buildings are not likely to break this record, even without hanging over!

The so-called Hohenstaufen city wall (staufische Stadtbefestigung) mentioned in the inscription was built in the 12th / 13th century by the Hohenstaufen dynasty, whose last reigning member was publicly executed in Naples in 1268, after his defeat at the Battle of Tagliacozzo. The butchers' Tower was added about a hundred years later. It was to protect the passage way breaching the city wall because of the need of access to the new slaughterhouse built extra muros (outside the wall) as most malodorous, dangerous, or socially disdained things were.

Linguistic Notes:

The medieval German word Metzig is no longer in use in the modern language. It has been replaced by Schlachthof. But in the south of Germany we still say Metzger (butcher), Metzgerei (butcher's shop) - and Gemetzel (butchery, carnage, massacre). In northern parts of Germany they prefer Fleischer / Fleischerei and Schlachter / Schlachterei instead. Caution: Schlächterei (note the dieresis!) is equivalent to Gemetzel everywhere in Germany!

The original German text of the inscription is not entirely correct. That is why in my transcription of the inscription, I've added an "n" (in brackets) at the end of the expression "in der Diagonalen". German grammar demands this.

Bibliography

Author / Title / Subject

Notes

Info / Purchase

Munich, Bavaria and the Black Forest
(Lonely Planet Country & Regional Guides)

A guide to southern Germany.

amazon.de/at: English.

amazon.es: English.

amazon.fr: English.

amazon.it: English.

Bavaria
(Cadogan Guides)

A specialized guide to Bavaria.

amazon.de/at: English.

amazon.es: English.

amazon.fr: English.

amazon.it: English.

Internet

Please be aware of our legal reservation concerning any Internet reference.

Address / Owner	Content / Subjects
Zwei Städte - ein Lebensraum (Two Cities - One Vital Space)	Shared site of the municipalities of Ulm and Neu-Ulm (German language).
Ulm In the English Wikipedia.	Encyclopaedic article on the city of Ulm.
City map of Ulm By Google Maps.	Zoomable city map of Ulm.
House of Hohenstaufen In the English Wikipedia.	Detailed encyclopaedic article on the Swabian dynasty of Hohenstaufen.
Battle of Tagliacozzo In the English Wikipedia.	Detailed encyclopaedic article on the battle of Tagliacozzo, which was the cause of the emprisonment and public execution of Conradin, the dynasty of Hohenstaufen's last reigning member.

Holidays in Ulm? Excellent idea! But where to stay?

Whether you are looking for a room, an apartment, a hotel, a guest house, or any other accommodation,
with board or without it, you can find it on

BOOKING.COM.

Arrival by Public Transport

For the arrival in Ulm, see Inscriptions of Ulm.

Exiting the Ulm main station, take the pedestrian subway just in front of you and continue straight ahead in the pedestrian street until you see a street going to the right. Take it down to the Blau brook, which you can follow downstream across the fishers' quarter to the Danube riverside or on to the city wall going along the riverside. Continue downstream along the Danube until you see the Butchers' Tower on your left.

Indications concerning the arrival correspond to our personal knowledge or even experience, but we cannot assume any responsibility for their rightness. When you are reading this page, things may have changed in reality.

Hans-Rudolf Hower, 2012

Frequently-asked questions - Webmaster

Last updated: July 31, 2019