The Bell Tower may well be regarded as having the most interesting architectural history, for no less than five striking building periods can be traced on it, changing it from the original one storied defence tower of the late-midievel fortress to a seven-storied residential tower. The tower stands directly on a granite foundation. When building the tall residential palaces, which will be described later, it proved necessary to increase the hight of the tower. In order to dominate the exit into the valley Ludwig V (1508-1544) had already placed the Hall of Mirrors . The tower was again elevated by Friedrich IV (1592-1610) and a further two octagonal residential stories added, an extremely bold construction achievement. The interior was completely burnt out in 1764, the top storey already destroyed and removed in the Thirty Years War. One realizes how the increasing need of living space in the narrow castle precincts forced the builders to erect vertical buildingd, and this often brought them into conflict with fortification requirements.
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