Stork Tower Museum

The nearly 700-year-old Stork Tower is the landmark of the town of Zell am Harmersbach. 25 meters high, 108 steps: The nearly 700-year-old Stork Tower is the landmark of the town of Zell am Harmersbach. Those who make it all the way up to the old tower keeper’s room are rewarded with a beautiful view and, along the way, learn all about the region’s 850 years of urban and cultural history. Because storks love to nest there, the old town tower is called the Storchenturm. In the Middle Ages, the cool walls served as a starvation dungeon and a tower prison. When the newly founded city museum moved into the Storchenturm in 1960, the prison—complete with a bell of shame, a thumb screw, and other instruments of torture—remained part of the exhibition. A treasure trove for lovers of the past From floor to floor, the rarities from the regional history of Zell and its surroundings accumulate. Over the decades, the citizens of Zell have collected 3,500 exhibits. On display are recreated workshops of cigar makers, tinsmiths, and stove fitters, as well as minerals from the quarries of the Kinzig Valley, a dollhouse over 100 years old, a Märklin model railroad, Black Forest clocks, and tableware from Zell Ceramics. A unique piece is the mechanical musical instrument “Orchestrion Zamba,” which was built in 1897 in Waldkirch—a town known for organ building—in the Elz Valley and brought to Zell am Harmersbach in 1898. For one euro, the Orchestrion Zamba plays marches and dance music, to which dolls move in time with the music. The “Bildstein Collection,” named after its founder Josef Bildstein, fascinates watch enthusiasts: On display are Zeller porcelain sign clocks, clocks with musical mechanisms, cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks, and—as a particular treasure—an astronomical clock crafted in 1896 by the Zeller clockmaker Gustav Riehle. The extensive mineral and coin collection is also worth noting. In the entrance area, there is a special gem: a Basel Dance of Death featuring 42 terracotta figures from the “Sohn” manufactory in Zizenhausen-Stockach, depicting the transience of life. Opening Hours April through October Thursday, Friday, and Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Free admission Special tours available year-round Groups of 10 or more Information and Reservations Tourist Information Alte Kanzlei 77736 Zell am Harmersbach Tel.: 07835 6369-240 Email: tourist-info@zell.de