Trutzbingen

Münster-Sarmsheim, Germany, Germany

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Trutzbingen is the evocative ruin of a round tower known as the "Stumpfer Turm" on a slate outcrop at the edge of Münster-Sarmsheim near Bingen am Rhein in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate.

Built in 1493 by Elector Philip the Sincere of the Palatinate as part of a toll barrier to protect a new weekly market and ship landing against Bingen's post-fire market fees, the fortified enclosure with its hilltop watchtower was partially destroyed in 1504 during the Palatinate-Bavarian War of Succession when Hessian Landgrave William bombarded and burned the town.

Today, the surviving half-shell stands as a stark reminder of late medieval trade disputes along the Nahe River, accessible to hikers overlooking the Rhine confluence.