Location and history: The Ailenberg tower is also called the Mélacturm or Schlurgerturm
and is located on the Ailenberg near Rüdern and Obertürkheim
It is a tower from the 16th century.
The Esslingen city administrator Jos Burkhardt ordered the building of a tower on the Ailenberg as "Lustheusslin" and ornament of the city. The tower was built in 1574 by the bricklayer Michael Fladenesser and the carpenter Jacob West. Presumably an older imperial town watch tower had stood in its place, from which the ancestral castle of the Württemberg people on the Württemberg could be observed. The tower consists of three stone floors and an octagonal structure made of wood under a conical roof.
During the Palatinate War of Succession, Esslingen was briefly occupied by French troops. In the 19th century, patriotic, literary stories included the tower in their fictional adaptations. A girl is said to have rendezvous with the officer Ezéchiel de Mélac near this tower, thereby preventing the city from being destroyed.
There are many legends surrounding the so-called Mélacturm.
The "legend" changed over time. According to Gunter E. Grimm, it was said in 1814 that Mélac feared the anger of the residents at the armory that had been laid in ashes and therefore moved his residence to Esslingen Castle. A town's daughter tried to stab him there in the Mélac house, but she failed because of the tank he was wearing under his clothes.
The second name of the tower, "Schlurgerturm", could be loosely related to the novella version of the Mélacsage. The Weinberggeist Schlurker or Schlurger announces itself in spring with noise and rattling, which shows a certain similarity with the procession of the wild hunt, which Witzleben includes in his novella. The appearance of the Schlurgers should indicate a good wine year.
Source: Wikipedia