Granusturm (Granus Tower), Aachen

Granusturm is much older than many visitors expect. It was completed around 788 AD as part of Charlemagne’s palace complex, built alongside the King’s Hall. Today it forms one side of the Town Hall building, because the later Gothic hall from the 14th century was raised on the palace remains and reused parts of the older structure.

The tower is square, not round. Each side measures about 8.85 meters, and the oldest part is the lower section: the first four storeys, up to about 20 meters high, still belong to the Carolingian period. Later centuries added extra upper storeys, and the spire you see today is modern (rebuilt in 1979 after earlier damage over time).

Its original purpose is still discussed. One well-supported idea is that it worked mainly as a staircase tower, with stairs winding around inner rooms and linking different levels of the palace buildings and galleries. The name “Granus Tower” is linked to Grannus, a Celtic healing god, but the naming itself became common much later-especially in the Renaissance, when people connected old ruins with Roman stories.