The Great Tower Neuwerk is the most significant building of the Neuwerk island, belonging to Hamburg. This former beacon, watchtower and lighthouse is also the oldest building in Hamburg and oldest secular building on the German coast.
The construction was started in 1300. It was completed after ten years in 1310. The style matches the common norman tower type of the time. Contrary to some literature, the tower was built in this form from the beginning. The fire in the 1360s destroyed most of the wooden elements and it had to undergo major reconstruction.
The original roof was made of lead, and was replaced by copper in 1474. This was again replaced in 1558 by a tiled roof and by a new copper roof following that. The copper was then used for military purposes in 1916 reconstructed later.
The original purpose was to host troops to defend the ships entering and leaving the Elbe from sea and beach pirates. The tower was also refuge for the farmers on the island during storm surges and survivors of shipwrecks over the centuries.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.