Butter-churn tower

Its name derives from its shape which is similar to that of an upright butter churn: a cylindrical container with a shorter, narrower top section.

The Marksburg above Braubach am Rhein had a square bergfried to which was added a small butter-churn turret in 1468.

One of the tallest towers is the 56 metres (184 ft) high Round Tower, the symbol of the town of Andernach, which dates to 1453 and has an unusual variation: an octagonal upper turret with a stone gable roof.

The third-highest surviving bergfried in Germany is at the Osterburg near Weida in Thuringia; it is 53 metres (174 ft) high and also designed as a butter-churn tower.

It measures 24 metres (79 ft) to the platform and has an octagonal, stone conical roof dating to the 15th century.