Thieves’ Tower

An ivy-covered white hull, playful corner turrets, colourful tiles – as romantic and inviting as the Diebsturm appears today, many people in the past would have preferred to avoid visiting it. Built around 1380, the round tower was used as a prison for a long time and, with a diameter of eight metres and four floors, naturally offered little comfort.

Prison and observation tower

While the prisoners were supposed to come to moral realisation, the guards benefited from the good view: Built on the highest point of the island, Schrannenplatz, the 35-metre-high Diebsturm tower has always offered the best view of the surrounding area. The half-timbered corner turrets of the octagonal roof, which was renovated in 2013, therefore point in all four directions. 300 square metres of tiles were re-fired according to historical models, glazed in 14 different colours and finally applied. The ‘swallow’s nests’ were also refreshed under the expert supervision of monument conservationists – in a blood-red colour that was formerly used on many buildings in Lindau.

The Diebsturm tower and its colourful roof

The islanders owe the fact that the tower still exists today to master mason Johann Jacob Götzger, who purchased the building in 1817 for 250 guilders, thus saving it from demolition. Götzger also saved the tower of the nearby St. Peter’s Church, which was built around the year 1000 and is one of the oldest churches on Lake Constance, from decay at that time. Together with the former bell foundry and the armoury, St. Peter’s Church and the Diebsturm now form a picturesque medieval ensemble.

Lindau’s former city prison was also known as the Malefiz Tower; the Latin term ‘maleficus’ stood for malicious, evil and godless, while the term ‘maleficium’ stood for sacrilege and crime. In Malefiz towers such as Lindau’s Diebsturm, criminals had to do penance for their evil deeds.