Wartturm

The Wartturm (The Watchtower)

In early centuries, territory lords offered protection to travelers traveling on certain roads in exchange for a fee. These roads were called “Geleitstraßen” (escorted streets). Weingarten was a junction for the following “Geleitstraßen”:

Weingarten - Gondelsheim - Bretten
Weingarten - Sinsheim - Eberbach
Weingarten up to the “Pfinzer” bridge by Staffort

At the junction of this escorted road system, in Weingarten, a watchtower was erected as a base for the escort teams. Additionally the tower came in handy in the surveillance of neighbor communities.

The tower, erected from stone with its inner structure carved out of wood, burned out the first time in the thirty-year war between 1618 and 1648. The second destruction followed in 1689 by the command of general Mélac, who ordered heavy destruction in the whole of Weingarten.

The angel relief is made out of sandstone, carved in 1956 by the sculptor Edzard Hobbing. Nowadays the tower houses a local historic exhibition supervised by the local inhabitants- and “Heimatverein”. The tower was restored in 1988, however not true to the historic image. The tower is now topped by a flat roof.

Museum

The museum inside is open from Easter till All Saints’ Day on Sundays and national holidays from 3 p.m. till 6 p.m.