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Origin and history

The Bollwerk Tower is a vestige of the ancient fortifications of Mulhouse, built in the 13th century. Located in the Nordfeld district, near the Tower of Europe, it illustrates the architectural and toponymic evolution of the city. Its present name, derived from the German Bollwerk (bastion), replaced successive names related to its environment: Neuensteinerturm (1390), Hugues Walch tower (XV century), donkey tower (circa 1700), then pig tower (circa 1850), with reference to a nearby slaughterhouse. Its appearance has also changed: the original niches were replaced by a flat roof in the 18th century, then by its current roof in 1890.

The tower is decorated with a fresco of 1893 by Ferdinand Wagner, representing the mayor Ulrich of Dornach during the attack of Mulhouse by Martin Malterer in 1385. This work, restored in the 1970s by Bernard Latuner, symbolizes the resistance of the city. Ranked a historic monument in 1898, the tower is one of the few remains of the ramparts demolished in 1840. Today, it embodies the history of Mulhousian society, to the point that the city is sometimes called the "city of Bollwerk". Since 2006, the tramway has been passing by, strengthening its anchor in the urban landscape.

The Bollwerk reflects the urban and cultural transformations of Mulhouse, marked by its Alsatian heritage and its industrial past. Its early ranking (1898) underlines its heritage importance, while its fresco and its successive names reflect the historical strata of the city, between medieval conflicts, artisanal activities (meuniers, slaughterhouses) and modernity (common transport).

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