Wrangel Tower

2 Proletarskaya St., Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Region, Russia, 236029

The tower was built in 1853 as part of the fortifications of Königsberg and was named after General Field Marshal Wrangel. The project was designed by Ernst Ludwig von Aster. Similar towers of precisely round shape began to be used as early as the early Middle Ages. Many ideas of fortification architecture trace back to the 18th-century French reformer Marc René de Montalembert, who proposed the design of the famous Montalembert towers.

Kaliningrad: the ring of Königsberg fortifications in the mid-19th century

Wrangel Tower (German Wrangelturm) is a fortification structure located in the city of Kaliningrad (until 1945 — Königsberg).

The tower was built in 1853 as part of the fortifications of Königsberg and was named after Field Marshal General Wrangel. The project was designed by Ernst Ludwig von Aster. Similar towers of precisely round shape began to be used as early as the early Middle Ages. Many ideas of fortification architecture trace back to the French reformer of the 18th century Marc René de Montalembert, who proposed the design of the famous Montalembert towers.

Wrangel Tower, together with the Don Tower, was intended to cover the Upper Pond (Upper Lake), considered the weakest point in the defense. The diameter of both towers is 34 meters, and the height is 12 meters. Artillery pieces were placed in 42 casemates arranged in two circular tiers. Communication between floors and the upper platform was provided by spiral staircases located in half-towers on the courtyard side. The tower is topped with an open combat platform with a battlemented parapet wall. Guns were installed here. Above the platform rises a casemated tower in the form of a prism, ending with a separate open platform with a battlemented parapet. The tower served to raise guns and ammunition using a cable-winch system. Thus, the round shape of the tower allowed firing at attacking enemies from all sides with fire radiating outwards. A tower of this shape is capable of all-around defense and practically has no weak points.

The tower was equipped with a fireplace-type heating system, natural exhaust ventilation, sewage, and drainage devices. Extensive basements of the tower allowed for storing large supplies of food, ammunition, and military equipment. Before World War II, during peacetime, the guard on duty in the tower consisted of 15–20 people.

Wrangel Tower is a gem of mid-19th-century brick neo-Gothic architecture. The inscription "DER WRANGEL" still remains on the facade. Characteristic features include cross vaults of the casemates, openwork belts, and ornamental brickwork. High-strength ceramic bricks were used in the construction of the tower, not only as a structural material but also as finishing without subsequent plastering of the walls. Some bricks bear the manufacturer's stamp. The tower’s plinth wall is decorated with rustication, laid out with large cobblestones of various shapes, the front side of which is left unhewn. The stones are bonded with cement mortar.

The tower is crowned with a battlemented parapet. The battlements are a decorative element that encircles the entire building twice. Originally, they were used in medieval fortresses. The battlements protected defenders, and the gaps between them served as open embrasures for firing from above.

Just below, the tower is surrounded by a protruding belt, beneath which is a ring of blind pointed arches. These are stylized machicolations — so-called murder holes, i.e., overhanging embrasures located at the top of fortress walls, intended for dropping stones on the enemy. They are also called "varnitsy," as in the Middle Ages boiling water and hot resin were poured on the enemy through them. Here they serve a decorative purpose in accordance with the style of "brick neo-Gothic," which flourished in the mid-19th century.

The embrasure windows have pointed arch vaults. The pointed arch resembles a bow. On the first floor, these are narrow embrasures for cannons, but on the upper floors, they are large for more powerful howitzers.

On the outside, two half-towers — caponiers with miniature battlemented parapets — are attached to the tower. They were intended for firing within the water moat. Their task was to prevent the enemy from using the dam as a crossing and to stop them from crossing the moat.

Wrangel Tower is surrounded by a water moat — an additional obstacle for the enemy. Its depth ranges from two to three meters. The difference in water levels between the moat river and the Upper Pond is regulated by a system of shutter barriers and sluices.

One of the water level regulators in the form of a sluice is located in the caponier — the external half-tower attached to the main body of Wrangel Tower. A brick dam, called a "batardeau," is attached to the caponier. It serves as a barrier for the basin on the eastern side. The sluice can be raised to fill the dry basin with water in case of enemy approach. The second sluice is located in the western wing of the tower and serves to regulate the water level in the moat around the tower.

Behind the water moat surrounding the tower is a multi-tiered earthen rampart. It arose as a protective belt as a result of digging the moat: the earth excavated during the moat’s construction was piled up and leveled. On the western side of the tower, a section of the escarp wall remains along the moat, with numerous embrasures.

By the end of the 19th century, the second rampart bastion belt lost its military significance when a fort belt was erected around Königsberg. By that time, the city had already become cramped within the ring rampart, and city authorities negotiated with the military department about buying out the defensive structures and freeing up space for civilian construction.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the tower lost its defensive function and was not used for military purposes until 1944.

In 1913, during the centenary celebration of Germany’s liberation from Napoleonic occupation, an art gallery was established here under the direction of architect and professor of the Königsberg Academy of Arts Friedrich Lars. On the rampart near the tower stood a bronze figure of the German national folk hero, the peasant Michel (Die Deutsche Mischel am Wrangelturm), now lost. The sculpture of the young peasant "Our German Michel" with a flail for threshing grain on his shoulder was created in 1895 by sculptor Johann Friedrich Roesch and installed in the garden near the Prussia Museum building on Königsstraße. In 1904, "German Michel" was moved to the Royal Gates, and in early 1924 to the surviving part of the fortress wall near Wrangel Tower.

In the late 1920s, on the site of the old defensive belt, the city parks director Ernst Schneider created a recreational area with walking paths, called the Schneider Green Belt. Various tree species were planted on the rampart around Wrangel Tower. On the brick dam near the tower in 1924, a bronze figure of the German national folk hero Michel was installed (now lost). The sculpture depicted a German peasant with a flail for threshing grain. It was created by sculptor Johann Friedrich Roesch. From 1928, Wrangel Tower housed a youth tourist base. The upper platform was used as a viewing platform for tourists. In the early 1930s, the tower became a "treasure chamber" with a museum of jewelry art.

During World War II, the tower functioned as a hospital and a major stronghold. During artillery shelling in April 1945, the walls and vaults of the tower were directly hit and damaged but never breached. The garrison of Wrangel Tower surrendered on April 10, after General Otto von Lyash signed the act of surrender of Königsberg. In the postwar period, the tower was used as a container warehouse and then stood empty for some time.

Sources:

https://www.prussia39.ru/sight/index.php?sid=550

https://m.ambermuseum.ru/home/about_museum/museum_buildings/wrangel_tower

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrangel_Tower

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