Lusatian History of the Hotherbastion – The Higher Tower in Görlitz

Since the late 13th century, the city was surrounded by a double wall ring. The area between these walls is called a kennel. There were more than 20 towers and bastions on both the inner and outer rings of the wall, of which only a few of the sieges in the first third of the 15th century by the Hussites and the Swedish occupation were in thethirty-year war have survived.

Reconstruction in the 19th century

In the 19th century, the city fortifications were largely demolished to make room for increasing road traffic. Today only remains of the city wall at Nikolaigraben and on Uferstrasse are preserved.

The Hotherbasque on the Nikolaizwinger

One of the surviving bastions is the Hotherbastei (also called the Higher Tower) on the NikolaiZwinger, which is located below the Vogtshof in the north-east corner of the city wall.

Dating and Architectural Features

This is dated to the second half of the 13th century and represents the last surviving corner bastion of the city. The adjoining Nikolaizwinger was redesigned into a garden in 1953/54 by the garden architect Henry Kraft.

Structure of the tower

The two-storey tower, whose masonry is interrupted in the lower area and in the transition to the upper floor by some loopholes, rises above a half-circular floor plan. The upper floor has several large cannon hatches.

Importance of the kennel and the bastion

Below the kennel stretched out the Nikolaivorstadt, which was outside the protective city wall ring and itself was insufficiently secured. Therefore, kennels and Higherbastei offered additional protection.