Stadtturm (City Tower)

The Stadtturm, or City Tower, at Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse 21 in the Altstadt of Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria, was built between 1442 and 1450 as a civic watchtower beside the old town hall. It served as a fire lookout and a prison, and it stood as a symbol of the town's growing self-government in the late Middle Ages. The tower is about 51 metres high, and in the 16th century it received a Renaissance onion dome, with smaller corner turrets, designed by the court architect Gregor Türing in 1560. The dome and the turrets give the tower its distinctive silhouette among the gabled burgher houses of the Old Town.

Visitors climb 148 steps to a viewing gallery. From the platform, the panorama takes in the Old Town roofs, the Golden Roof, the River Inn and the Nordkette mountain range directly to the north. The old watchman's room, which was used by the city's tower guards, is part of the interior, and a small exhibition tells the story of the tower and the former city prison. The building next to the tower, formerly the town hall, now houses other uses, but its connection with the tower is clear from the shared walls.

The tower is built in stone with a square footprint, and its upper stories have been repaired several times because of fires and wear. It has been restored in modern times and remains in good condition. The experience is simple: a climb up a narrow stair, a short exhibition in the watchman's room and the open gallery with views. It is a short walk from the Goldenes Dachl and the Helblinghaus, and many visitors include it in a walk through the Old Town.