Dächliturm (Roof Tower), Lucerne

The easternmost of the nine sister towers in the historic Mussegg Wall of Lucerne is also the smallest. This slender structure is only 27.35 meters high, with a 5.4-by-7.3-meter footprint, and has side walls of 1.4-meter thickness. Its south wall is only 0.6 meters thick.

In addition to the name Dächliturm, which literally translates to the “tower with a small roof”, it was also known once as the third Holdermeyer Tower or Signal Tower.

The exact year of its construction is unknown – tentatively, it's 1449, although this is subject to further examination.

The tower's main highlight is the pyramid-shaped roof, considered to be the oldest of all the nearby tower rooftops – built in the spring of 1449 at the earliest. Originally, just like several other towers in the Musegg Wall, it was a half-tower. Its south facade was open to the city and was bricked up only in 1728. Subsequently, the tower interior was completed in 1731.

During the Thirty Years' War, in the first half of the 17th century, amid the terror reigning over Europe, this small tower served primarily as a fortification post against enemy attack from the water – for which purpose it had the shooting holes facing the lake. Additionally, it was also used as storage for gunpowder, which luckily never came to be needed.

In the more peaceful times, towards the end of the 19th century, the Roof Tower was briefly rented by a glass painter, and then from 1936 to 1961, it had its lower part occupied by the Museum of Commerce. Also, partially from 1936 and then wholly since 1970, it has been rented by the Swiss Association of Master Carpenters, which has maintained the property until today.