Staufen wall

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Remains of the Staufen wall on the tramline

The Staufen wall is an old city ​​wall in Frankfurt am Main , small remains of which are still preserved today.

history

Bornheimer Pforte 1628. The place at the upper edge is today's Konstablerwache , the section of the wall on the right is the section that has been preserved to this day. The unicorn cookie at the bottom right.

It was built under the Hohenstaufen dynasty (1138–1254) around 1180 to protect the city from raids and roughly enclosed today's Frankfurt old town . A battlements ran along the roughly seven-meter-high and two to three-meter-thick wall of rubble stones , with a dry trench facing the outside . It had only three gates, from west to east the Guldenpforte at the western end of the Weißfrauengasse, the Bockenheimer Pforte (later called Katharinenpforte ) between Holz- and Hirschgraben and the Bornheimer Pforte at the northernmost point of the Fahrgasse . The Mainzer Pforte in Alte Mainzer Gasse at the southwestern end of the Staufen wall formed the transition to the river bank, which was fortified with the Main wall.

The original course is still partially recognizable in today's streets of Großer Hirschgraben , Kleiner Hirschgraben, Holzgraben and Fahrgasse / An der Staufenmauer (formerly: Börnestrasse).

In 1333 the city received from Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian permission to expand the city. Until the middle of the 15th century, the new town that was created was gradually surrounded by a new wall. The old Staufen wall was initially still maintained, so that you could only change from the old town to the new town through its gates. Around 1350 it even received two strong defensive towers to strengthen it, the Fronhofturm at the Dominican monastery and the Mönchsturm to the north of it . The street name Zeil still refers to the city wall, because this street, which was laid out in the New Town in the 14th century, was only built on on the north side until the end of the 16th century. The moat of the Staufen wall was on its south side.

From 1462 the Frankfurt Jews had to settle in the Judengasse , which ran directly outside the Staufen wall on its northeastern part. Up until the 16th century, the gates of the gates in the Staufen wall were closed at night, so that no traffic between the old town and the new town was possible at night.

Bornheim Gate

The Bornheim Gate, a double gate until the 15th century, had a square tower with a steep slate hipped roof. After it had lost its original defensive purpose due to the city expansion, a prison was established in the tower in 1433. In 1603, at the request of the neighborhood, the tower received a clock with a bell. In the Great Christian Fire in 1719 in the district along Töngesgasse and Fahrgasse, the Bornheimer Pforte also burned out, but remained standing. In 1765 the neighborhood complained about the dilapidation of the tower because they feared it would collapse. Therefore, the city council decided on February 21, 1765 to have the gate demolished as soon as possible. The clock was placed on the tower of the armory at the Konstablerwache in 1778 , the bell in 1776 as a makeshift aid to the Bornheim church that had just burned down .

Katharinenpforte

The Bockenheimer or Katharinenpforte 1628. The open space at the top left is today's place at the Hauptwache.

The Bockenheimer Pforte was a double gate with an outer gate and a strong, square tower with a steep slate hipped roof, bay window and lantern. Since the 15th century the gate was Katharinenpforte after the nearby, 1,354 of Wicker frog donated Catherine's Church . After a fire in 1690, the restored tower served as a city prison. The most famous prisoner is likely to have been Susanna Margaretha Brandt , the historical role model for Goethe's Gretchen , who spent the last days before her execution on January 14, 1772 here.

In 1784 the tower was damaged again by fire and, against the protest of the neighborhood, who would have liked to remove the traffic obstacle, it was restored as a prison for several thousand guilders . It was not until May / June 1790 that the tower was dismantled and the demolition material was used to build the new Barfüßerkirche .

Whereabouts of the wall

Unicorn cookies with Adam Elsheimer's birthplace

From 1582 the Staufen wall was gradually razed, initially in the west along the Great Hirschgraben and the Holzgraben. In 1589/90 the tower of the Guldenpforte was laid down. In the eastern part, however, the Staufen wall was preserved for a long time. During the Great Jewish Fire in the ghetto in 1711, the section of the wall between the Bornheimer Pforte and the Dominican monastery was badly damaged. The council forced the impoverished Jewish community to tear down the damaged wall section of 15 blind arches at their own expense and to have it rebuilt 36 shoes high, although the Staufen wall no longer had any military value. It served as a firewall for the houses located here . After the air raids in 1944 , the arches that had been preserved came to light again.

Another remnant of the Staufen wall can still be seen on the west side of the Liebfrauenkirche , the church tower of which was originally a tower of the Staufer city wall.

The painter Adam Elsheimer was born on March 18, 1578 in house number 120 at Einhornplätze on Fahrgasse, which also bordered the Staufen wall with the back . On the historical photo from around 1900, this house is in the back left corner. The perspective is almost the same as in the first picture, which shows today's view.

literature

Web links

Commons : Staufenmauer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 49 ″  N , 8 ° 41 ′ 13 ″  E