Chemnitz towers: The High Tower | Jakobikirchturm
The High Tower or Jakobikirchturm rises between St James' Church and the Old Town Hall - one of the oldest buildings in the city and its landmark for centuries. Originally perhaps a fortification tower from the 12th century, it has served as the bell tower of the parish church since the 14th century at the latest and has been raised several times. As the tallest building in the town, it also served as a guard and observation post and the office of the tower keeper. Its basement housed the fireproof municipal archives.
It is not known what the tower looked like in the Middle Ages. After a fire in 1617, it was given a baroque dome with a lantern, which - following a lightning strike in 1746 - was remodelled into its present form by the Freiberg master carpenter Johann Gottlieb Ohndorff. Since then, the total height has been 64 metres. In 1749, St Jakob's Church was given a new, three-part main bell. The large bell, cast by the Dresden foundryman Johann Gottfried Weinhold and weighing almost 3,000 kilograms, is still in the belfry today.
On 5 March 1945, the tower burned down together with St. James' Church and the Old Town Hall. The unsecured ruins collapsed to the south at the beginning of February 1946, burying part of the town hall beneath them. The northern half of the tower, which remained standing at its full height, had to be blown up as a result. After a good six hundred years, the building had disappeared from the cityscape.
During the reconstruction of the Old Town Hall, the base of the tower, including the belfry, was reconstructed by 1949. The 32 metre high stump was covered by a flat temporary roof, which was initially designed as a temporary solution, but ultimately lasted for over 30 years. It was not until 1986 that the final restoration could be tackled. The octagonal storey with the former tower keeper's flat was bricked up and the gallery was rebuilt. At the same time, the new dome with lantern was built on the market square as a slate-cornered steel structure in the Baroque style. It was lifted onto the tower shaft by crane on 26 September 1986. The historic tower group in the town centre was thus complete again after more than four decades.