St. Catherine's Bell Tower - Brandenburg, Germany
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Bernd das Brot Team
N 52° 24.535 E 012° 33.695
33U E 334143 N 5809318
The tallest building in town
Waymark Code: WM11P6F
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
Date Posted: 11/24/2019
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member rjmcdonough1
Views: 4
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 Built in the 15th century, St. Catherine's (Sankt Katharinen in German) is the largest church in the thousand year-old city of Brandenburg, Germany.

The bell tower, the tallest building in town, reaches a height of 72,5 meters (238 feet).

There is one large bell, accompanied by three smaller bells, ringing every hour.

The tower is open to the public. Check our Look-out Tower waymark for details.

Large bell

 One of the smaller bells

89 steps on a brick-stone staircase and 106 steps on wooden stairs lead to the bell ringer's room. In the 15th century, one bell ringer and three pipers lived up here. (see pictures below).

A small sign in the bell ringer's room tells us about an incredible story that happened in 1582:

In 1580, the tower was damaged by a storm. Cracks in the walls started to appear, but before the church had the funds to repair the tower, it came down.

On March 30, 1582, at 3 AM, the tower crumbled, destroying all bells and the church's organ.

At the time, the bell ringer was out of town, but the three pipers, Andreas Drichel, Georg Wolff, and Anton Störtewein were asleep on top of the tower.

They tumbled down 200 feet together with the tower's debris, and - survived! They only sustained minor injuries like splinters.

At the bottom of the sign, the church expresses its hope that every visitor may receive the same divine protection as the three pipers 450 years ago.

Address of Tower:
St. Katharinenkirche
Katharinenkirchplatz 2
Brandenburg, BB Germany
14776

Still Operational: yes

Number of bells in tower?: 4

Relevant website?: [Web Link]

Rate tower:

Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Yes
Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the tower taken while you were there. Please also record how you came to be at this tower and any other interesting information you learned about it while there.
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