The town of Grebenstein was already a community with a vision. From the 13 defensive towers that surrounded the town on the Esse in the middle of the 14th century, the guards could see far in all directions and recognize enemies early. Five towers remain from that time: Maiden Tower, Eulenturm, Pulverturm, Burgtorturm and Lindenturm.
Maiden Tower
While pretty much everyone from Grebenstein has climbed the Jungfernturm at least once in their life, the record for the other structural remnants from the Middle Ages is likely to be rather poor. And anyone who is curious about what it looks like in the stomach of the Powder Tower and what the view might be like from the Owl Tower has little chance of getting to the bottom of it.
Except for the Jungfernturm, none of the buildings are accessible. They lack stairs, says Herbert Gebert, who used to manage the building yard and now accompanies guests through the Jungfernturm. Unlike the Owl and Castle Gate Towers, the Linden and Powder Towers have multiple platforms inside. At least they can be climbed with a ladder. Gebert has already done this one or two times to look under the stone skin of Grebenstein's past. The historically knowledgeable pensioner knows that there were originally intermediate levels in most of the towers. However, they were made of wood and had weathered over time. However, there are still traces of their existence today: holes in the walls and ledges on which the beams rested.
What almost all of the 13 towers had in common was the presence of dungeons. The most prominent inmate was probably Bartholomäus Rieseburg, pastor in Immenhausen. In his sermons he had shown great enthusiasm for Luther's theses and in 1523 he was one of the first Protestant preachers in Hesse to be imprisoned in the Jungfernturm by Landgrave Philipp.
by Antje Thon (in HNA from May 22, 2007):