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“There is also a certain amount of unused power in the calm.”
Martin Gerhard Reisenberg
Burgwasserturm (castle water tower) provides the Ortenburg with a water connection
The Burgwasserturm (castle water tower) as the oldest part of the castle complex was built around 1400 to supply the castle with water. Like a water tower, it was used to supply water to the castle’s inhabitants, in this case those at Ortenburg Castle. At the time when the castle water tower was built, the water of the rivers was still edible. So it was the cool water of the Spree that brought refreshment and refreshment. Due to the relocation of the Spree in 1535 and the connection of the Ortenburg to the drinking water supply of the city of Bautzen, the water tower lost its original significance. Due to its location on the western edge of Ortenburg Castle, it was exposed to direct fire from the enemy. This is why it was built as a massive defence tower at the same time.
Burgwasserturm wasn’t a prison for Karasek.
For 200 years the Burgwasserturm (castle water tower) has been popularly known as the Karasek Tower. Karasek was a dreaded robber-chief. Historically it is not quite exact that he was locked up in the tower after his capture, but who wants to be petty when it comes to chasing the guests with old robber camels a goose bumps over the back. In fact, the front fortress had been in the nave that connected the tower with the Ortenburg castle since 1740. Among others, the leaders of the famous robber gangs Johannes Karasek and Wenzel Kummer, the Bohemian Wenceslas, were imprisoned here. The prison was dissolved in 1900.
Burgwasserturm is structurally secured
In the fighting of 1945 the interior and the roof of the water tower were destroyed. In 2001 the tower was technically secured and since then it has stood there as a “Hollow Bird”. The castle water tower is only accessible at certain events.
