The Saddle Tower

Visby City Wall had 22 so-called “saddle rowers” - small towers riding on the wall, but only 9 of those have been preserved. This tower almost collapsed in the mid 19th century due to stones and gravel being excavated right next to the wall, when a shooting range was built. Luckily, it was discovered in time and professor F. W. Scholander designed these specially fitted cast-iron supports. The project had received a lot of criticism as cast iron was seen as anachronism because it had not been used in the Middle Ages. Anachronism or not, this technical solution helped to save the tower.