Over room
An over room is a wooden gallery or a wooden bay window on medieval stone fortifications.
Overrooms were used for observation, less often for defense, and were found or are found, mostly placed on corbels, often on the field side between the towers of double tower gates such as B. at the Rurtor in Jülich , Kuhtor in Kempen , Eigelsteintor in Cologne , as well as at the other, also no longer existing Cologne city wall gates such as Gereons-, Friesen, Ehren-, Schafen-, Weyer-, Bach- (here only initially, there also walled up early), Pantaleon Gate and the Kahlenhausen Gate. In addition to the early walled up Ulrepforte, Hahnentor and Severinstor also originally had this facility. They were not to be found at the Cologne Rhine Gates, but the wall was prepared with defensive cores / semicircular towers and stone gatehouses and wooden wichhäuschen (guard houses) on top. However, it is also integrated into the battlements on the city side, such as the Heisterbacher Tor in Bad Münstereifel . The expression Bretesche (from bretèche f., Also bretène or brutèche = wooden porch, roof bay ) is also used synonymously. Against the hurdle as a wooden, protruding parapet walk on defense platforms of high defense towers and bergfrieds , the over room is distinguished solely by its mostly chamber-like shape and size and its predominant use as an observation room (window), although some short wooden weir gallery with hatches can be similar to a hurdle.