Virgin's Tower (Ger. Jungfrauenturm)

Historical Monuments

Description

The Virgin's Tower is a closed, cylindrical, brick structure that originally was a part of the town fortifications. In this face arrowslits, located on individual storeys, can be seen. The upper part of the building has a closed frieze with two decorative motifs, alternating resembling gothic window openings (round: rosette, long: a single lancet window). The entrance is located not on the ground floor, but at the height of the first floor, as it originally led from the defensive walls from the Ostrowska Gate Tower. The building has quite a rich exterior design, currently unavailable to visitors.

The tower is on the municipal and provincial (Lubulski Provincial Conservator of Monuments) list of monuments.

Historical background

The Virgin's Tower is one of the few preserved elements of the old defense system of Guben. It was built in the fourteenth century as a wooden structure; the exact date of reconstruction to the brick form is unknown. The tower was probably additionally modernized around 1530 (level-up, additional decorative frieze) as part of the modernization works undertaken in the years 1523-1544, aimed at strengthening all entrance gates.

Contrary to most of the city's buildings, the tower withstood many war and typical of medieval cities damages. Despite the demolition works undertaken on a city-wide scale, thanks to the protests of the inhabitants of Guben in 1820, it was not demolished along with the Ostrowska Gate Tower.