A powder tower, occasionally also powder house (Pulverhaus), was a building used by the military or by mining companies, frequently a tower, to store gunpowder or, later, explosives. They were common until the 20th century, but were increasingly succeeded by gunpowder magazines and ammunition depots. The explosion of a powder tower could be catastrophic as, for example, in the Delft Explosion of 1654.

List of powder towers

Buildings formerly used as powder towers include the following:

Germany

These are sorted by states of Germany, since there are so many.

Baden-Württemberg

Bavaria

Brandenburg

Bremen

Lower Saxony

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

The Pulverturm, Demmin, bears the name, but was probably not used for this purpose.

North Rhine-Westphalia

Rhineland-Palatinate

Saxony

Saxony-Anhalt

Thuringia

Austria

Czechia

Italy

Latvia

Namibia

Switzerland

USA

Gallery

Literature