The Watchwoman of the Night – and of the Anabaptists

One of Münster’s oldest – and quite literally “highest” – offices is currently held by a young woman musician. She is the “Türmerin”, the Tower Watch(wo)man, whose job is to watch over the city at night. And also help keep alive the memory of a bloody episode in the city’s history.

There are now only three of them in the whole of Germany, and one of them is in Münster: Martje Saljé is the “Türmerin”, the Night Watchwoman, performing her duties high up in the tower of the Lambertikirche, St. Lamberti Church, from what is the city’s highest office room. The job calls for someone who can handle being alone, but can also deal with the media. After all, her unusual post as City Watchwoman attracts interest from media representatives throughout the world. She can be heard blowing her horn, which sounds a little like a foghorn, above the roofs of the Old Town every night between 9 p.m. and midnight. It no longer warns of approaching enemies, but it is just as much part of Münster as the old Town Hall and the Cathedral. The Türmerin does, however, always keep an eye open for possible signs of fire, with binoculars to hand and a direct line to the Fire Brigade.

She also watches over one of the spookiest sights of the city: Suspended from the church tower, not far below the level of her room, can be seen three iron cages, in which the bodies of three leaders of the Anabaptist movement were displayed after their execution – as a warning and deterrent to other miscreants and rebels. There was good reason for the victorious bishop to order the cages to be hung precisely here. St. Lamberti was the market church of the burghers – and the Anabaptist rebellion was not the first time they had risen up against their temporal lord, the bishop.

What started out as a religious protest and popular uprising against the bishop’s rule of the city, ended in 1535 in a bloody catastrophe. When Bishop Franz von Waldeck advanced on Münster with the aim of forcing his rebellious subjects to bow to his sovereignty and embrace the traditional faith once more, the opposition took a more radical turn, and moderate Protestant Münster became a city of “Anabaptists”. Under the pressures of war and siege, the Anabaptists, a radical Protestant movement, succeeded in gaining the upper hand under their leader, Jan van Leiden, and set up an “Anabaptist Kingdom” in Münster. This caused a major stir throughout Europe. By some, this was seen as the creation of a “New Jerusalem” and as a sign of redemption. In the eyes of most, however, the city was nothing but a cesspool of sin, whose viciousness and godlessness was manifested through the common ownership of property, polygamy and the usurpation of monarchy.

After a siege lasting around one year with an army of 7,000 mercenaries, Franz von Waldeck finally retook the city in summer 1535 and ordered a bloodbath to be visited upon the defending citizenry. Three of the Anabaptists’ leaders, among them Jan van Leiden, were subjected to prolonged torture, executed, and their bodies then displayed in iron cages hanging from the tower of St. Lamberti. As the “Anabaptists’s cages” they still hang there today, providing a highly popular photo motif.

As a footnote: The end of the Anabaptists by no means marked the end of the history of popular insurrection against the sovereign ruler in Münster. More than 100 years later, within the scope of the Westphalian peace negotiations, Münster’s burghers sought to achieve the status of a “Free Imperial City”. Once again, the ruling lord, Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen, subjected Münster to war and besiegement. He acquired fame as “Bommen-Berend” (Bombing Bernhard) – by bombarding his own city.

After his victory, he laid the foundation stone – though without realizing it – for the youthful Münster of today: His citadel, designed to provide a free line of fire onto the city, was later turned by Münster’s famous architect, Johann Conrad Schlaun, into a magnificent baroque palace. And that ultimately became the focal point and head office of Münster University, which today is one of the biggest universities in Germany.

Some interesting facts & figures (perhaps worth following up further)

• The first written mention of the “Türmer” (tower watchman) in Münster stems from the year 1383. As late as 1777, the city council found that "the whole welfare of the city” depended on him. Today, his present successor – the first woman in this office – blows her horn daily (except on Tuesdays), every half hour from 9 p.m. till midnight. She is an employee of Münster Marketing.
• The Türmer’s official apartment, “Münster’s highest duty room”, is 75 metres above the Prinzipalmarkt and is reached by a narrow staircase with 298 steps. For safety reasons, tourists are not allowed up. To partially compensate for this, though, the Türmerin keeps a blog in which she regularly reports on her observations and insights… (For link, see below)
• The rule of the Anabaptists arose as a result of the radicalization of the Reformation movement in Münster. In March 1533, Münster had become a Protestant city, and now found itself under attack by the Catholic bishop, who was also its established temporal ruler. In the course of the conflict, the radical Anabaptists gained ever more support; in February 1534, they won the majority on the city council and declared Münster to be the “New Jerusalem”. The siege around the city became ever tighter, and no outside support materialized, so that finally, through treachery and after several failed attempts, the Bishop was able to retake the city on 24 June 1535.
• The three “Anabaptists cages”, as they are commonly known, suspended from the tower of St. Lamberti are in fact iron baskets made for the purpose of putting the mortal remains of Jan van Leiden, Bernd Knipperdolling and Bernd Krechting on display, the leaders of the Anabaptist movement, who were executed on the Prinzipalmarkt on 22 January 1536 after undergoing prolonged torture. However, Münster’s leading reformer and Anabaptist theologian, Bernd Rothmann, escaped and was never found, despite an intense search.
• In the evening hours, lights can be seen burning in the cages – “Three will-o’-the-wisps, as a Manifestation of three souls or inner fires that are unable to find peace”, which were put there by Lothar Baumgarten as part of the 1987 Skulptur Projekte event.
• Münster very nearly became a Dutch city. During the negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia, Münster had acquired the status of a quasi “free imperial city”. In an attempt to retain this autonomy permanently in the face of opposition from the prince bishop, the citizens even briefly considered joining the independent Netherlands. However, the Dutch had other things to think about at the time than getting into dispute with a belligerent neighbouring prince, and so rejected the idea.

www.stadt-muenster.de/en/tourismus/places-of-interest/tower-keeper.html
www.tuermerinvonmuenster.de