Franco's Tower

In the Middle Ages, anyone wanting to learn about the good old days simply had to run through the streets of Trier. For the people back then were extremely pragmatic about their historic heritage: Buildings that couldn’t be used further had to serve as stone quarries for new structures. And so it was that even many of the fortress-like tower houses that sprung up in the inner city during the 11th and 12th centuries were built using old Roman stone material that was still omnipresent. Very few of these towers have been preserved today – the Frankenturm, named after one of its 14th-century inhabitants, Franco von Senheim, is one of them, and is also the best preserved. Ancient stones in its walls have outlived time, and the place where this is most striking is on a lintel on the eastern side, where a Roman tombstone has been hewn into a semi-circular shape and incorporated upside down.

The plain façade and crenellated coping are evidence in themselves that the tower’s builders preferred to take control of their own safety. The ancient city wall was indeed largely destroyed, while the medieval city wall was never fully completed – a good enough reason to show off one’s own defensiveness with small windows and robust walls. In addition, the front door was located on the first floor of the eastern side, and was only accessible via a fold-up wooden staircase. In the event of an attack, uninvited guests would thus find themselves facing a solid wall, with no way of getting in. A door was only fitted on the ground floor in the 19th century. And thank goodness it was, for the tower can today be hired as an events venue. It doesn’t bear thinking about the potential injuries that could have resulted without the modern fittings.

As the Frankenturm is used as an event location, tours are only possible within guided tours.

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