Tower Biencourt is among the fortifications of Cologne, in the middle Ages it played the role of the city wall. Anyone can find this impressive structure on the river Rhine near the waterfront called Rheinauhafen.

The size of the tower can not leave indifferent even the skeptic: this building is an octagonal shape on a square base of three floors. Having a wall thickness of 2. 5 meters and a height of about 35 meters, the tower coped with its protective and defensive functions, giving residents peace of mind.

Tower Biencourt was built in 1220. Several decades later she had to go through a difficult test, in 1262 it was stormed by the citizens of the city who rose up against available at that time, the authorities of Archbishop Engelbert II. The capture of this majestic tower has become one of the most important steps on the path of liberation of the city. Already in 1288, Cologne won their long-awaited independence, and the residence of the Archbishop was moved to Bonn. To commemorate these historic events residents decided to decorate the tower emblem.

Despite the fact that for several centuries were demolished numerous city walls, Biencourt survived and retained its original shape until the present time. Restoration in the late nineteenth century was designed by the architect Josef Stubben that eliminated all damage towers, including those received during the fire that occurred in 1697.

With 1907 in Balintore a Museum in the early history of Cologne, but during the war most of the exhibits were destroyed, and the tower itself was significantly damaged. It was rebuilt only in 1987, based on a drawing of 1895, the remainder of Stubben.