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.

The powder tower of Prague

The powder tower in Meschede

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

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.