Lindau - Diebsturm

Lindau, located near the borders to Austria and Switzerland, was mentioned first time in 882 when a nunnery was founded here. The old town is on an island, which meanwhile is connected with the mainland by a road bridge and a railway dam.

The church of St. Stephan was built around 1180, Franciscans founded a monastery here in 1224. In 1274/75 Lindau became an Imperial Free City under King Rudolf I.

Lindau became Protestant in 1528. The nunnery remained Catholic while the Franciscan monastery, from which the first Reformation preachers came, was closed. During the Thirty Years' War, Lindau was unsuccessfully besieged by Swedish troops in 1646/47. Between 1445 and 1761, 18 people were indicted in witch trials in Lindau. The last victim of the witch hunt was Maria Madlener, who was executed on August 4, 1730.

The tower, once part of the city´s fortification from 1350, was later used as a prison. Hence his name Diebsturm (Thieve´s Tower) or Malefizturm.