Bayenturm

A defiant medieval defensive tower on the Südstadt riverbank – today home to the FrauenMediaTurm, a feminist archive and documentation centre.

Defensive tower Medieval Riverside

The Bayenturm is a mighty medieval defensive tower on the Rhine bank of the Südstadt. Built around 1220 as the southern corner tower of the eight-kilometre city wall, it is one of the few surviving remnants of those fortifications.

Source: Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-06-24

At a glance

Built: around 1220 (upper storeys around 1325)
Height: about 35 metres
Location: Rhine bank, Südstadt (near Rheinauhafen)
Today: home of the FrauenMediaTurm foundation

From watchtower to place of knowledge

Built up like a castle, the Bayenturm once guarded the southern tip of the city wall by the Rhine. Today it houses the FrauenMediaTurm – an important feminist archive and documentation centre founded by Alice Schwarzer. The tower thus links medieval history with a modern place of knowledge.