Bischofsturm

The Bishop Sturm (also Bishop's Castle ) in Hamburg is an annular tower foundation in the 12th century by 19 meters in diameter and the oldest surviving remains of a stone building of the Old Town. The foundations located below street level were excavated 1962-1965; it was assumed initially that this acted to the stone house of the Archbishop Bezelin - Alebrand from the 11th century. Excavations of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg and other findings in the immediate vicinity in 2008 disproved this theory, also dating had to be corrected. Accordingly, it is believed to be part of a fortification.

The foundations made ​​available as a branch of the Bishop's Castle Archaeological Museum Hamburg and other findings can be seen in a fully equipped showroom in the basement of 2011 finished commercial building St. Peter's Farm. Access is via the preferred in-house bakery branch, which has also established a café in the middle of the foundations.

Location and meaning

The bishop storm is, overbuilt by a business house, at the present address Kreuslerstraße / corner Speersort in the immediate vicinity of St. Peter's Church. The place is a Geest height at which the first settlement of Hamburg is detected, the leading past Stone Street is the oldest street in the city, which also recorded the history of an ancient trade route.

The base of the tower was discovered during excavation for the St. Peter's Community Centre on 30 August 1962. First, it was assumed that you would have found displaced boulders from the stone road. Thereafter, however, it turned out that it was the ruin of an unknown object. Up to the evaluation of new excavations in 2008, it was assumed that it was at the Fund for the Built as a round tower of stone house of the Archbishop Bezelin - Alebrand from the 11th century, mentioned in Adam of Bremen in 1074 authored Hamburg Church History will.

In virtue of another new building of St. Peter's community center possible investigations of the environment was found, however, that the tower foundation has simultaneously existed with a west upstream ditch and immediately behind the heath Wall, the first known fortification of Hamburg, was located. The date has been corrected to the 12th century. One possible interpretation is that it has acted in this tower to a gate or part of a city gate.

The finds

The tower foundation is a stone circle of boulders with a 19-meter outer and inner diameter of 11 meters measured. The majority of these stones has a diameter of one meter and more. Located along the west side was a 4 meter deep brick well shaft. This had a diameter of 4.4 meters and was made of field stones with diameters of about 50 centimeters.

The Showroom

As early as 1969 was in the basement of the newly built community center and later commercial building a showroom for the built-up tower foundations. After re demolition in 2008 and a new commercial building, called St. Peter's yard, the showroom was redesigned as a branch of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg. It can now be accessed through a retail store and a steel staircase design, visited. Within the stone circle a food court is set up. Through the full glazing of the ground floor of the Episcopal storm can also be viewed from the street.