# Powder tower

A powder tower (German: Pulverturm), occasionally also powder house (Pulverhaus), was a building used by the military or by mining companies, frequently a tower, to store gunpowder or, later, explosives. They were common until the 20th century, but were increasingly succeeded by gunpowder magazines and ammunition depots. The explosion of a powder tower could be catastrophic as, for example, in the Delft Explosion of 1654.

## List of powder towers

Buildings formerly used as powder towers include the following:

### Germany

These are sorted by states of Germany, since there are so many.

#### Baden-Württemberg

* Pulverturm, Leutkirch im Allgäu
* Pulverturm, Vellberg

#### Bavaria

* Pulverturm, Bad Reichenhall
* Pulverturm, Burghausen
* Färberturm, Gunzenhausen
* Pulverturm, Lindau
* Pulverturm, Memmingen
* Pulverturm, Munich
* Pulverturm, Ochsenfurt
* Pulverturm, Straubing

#### Brandenburg

* Pulverturm, Templin

#### Bremen

* Bremer Pulvertürme [de]

#### Lower Saxony

* Pulverturm, Bad Bentheim
* Knochenturm in Einbeck
* Pulverturm, Hameln
* Pulverturm Lingen, Ems
* Pulverturm, Oldenburg

#### Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

* Pulverturm, Anklam
The Pulverturm, Demmin, bears the name, but was probably not used for this purpose.

#### North Rhine-Westphalia

* Langer Turm, Aachen
* Pulvertürmchen in Aachen
* Pulverturm, Meschede
* Buddenturm in Münster
* Pulverturm, Rheinberg
* Pulverturm, Wiedenbrück

#### Rhineland-Palatinate

* Pulverturm, Andernach
* Pulverturm, Linz am Rhein
* Pulverturm, Mainz

#### Saxony

* Pulverturm, Johanngeorgenstadt
* Pulverturm in Zwickau

#### Saxony-Anhalt

* Pulverturm, Quedlinburg

#### Thuringia

* Pulverturm, Greiz
* Pulverturm, Jena

### Austria

* Pulverturm, Krems

### Czechia

* Despite its name the Powder Tower in Prague was never actually used to store gunpowder

### Italy

* Pulverturm, Schlanders

### Latvia

* Powder Tower, Riga (Pulvertornis)

### Namibia

* Powder Tower, Otjimbingwe, Namibia

### Switzerland

* Malteserturm in Chur
* Pulverturm, Merano
* Pulverturm, Zofingen

### USA

* Powder House (Dedham, Massachusetts)

## Gallery

* The Powder Tower in Prague
* Pulverturm in Oldenburg with remains of the old town wall
* Pulverturm Wiedenbrück, exterior view
* Pulverturm in Landsberg am Lech
* Pulverturm in Lindau
* Pulverturm in Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate
* Pulverturm in Riga
* Pulverturm in Memmingen
* Langer Turm in Aachen
* Pulverturm in Linz am Rhein
* Pulverturm in Rottenburg/Neckar
* Pulverturm in Johanngeorgenstadt
* Pulverturm in Otjimbingwe, Namibia
* Pulverturm in Zofingen
* Pulverturm in Zwickau

## Literature

* Adolf Weinbrenner: Pulvermagazin, in Otto Lueger (ed.): Lexikon der gesamten Technik und ihrer Hilfswissenschaften, Vol. 7 Stuttgart, Leipzig 1909, pp. 274–275; digitalised at zeno.org
* Brewer, Ted (1999). Czech and Slovak Republics Guide. Londres: Open Road Publishing.
* Legal, Claus; Legal, Gert (2020). Friedrich II. von Preußen und Quintus Icilius: Der König und der Obrist. Munique: utzverlag GmbH.
* Prokopovych, Markian (2009). Habsburg Lemberg: Architecture, Public Space, and Politics in the Galician Capital, 1772-1914. Lafaiete Oeste, Indiana: Imprensa da Universidade de Purdue.