Düren city fortifications
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The Düren city wall was the city fortification of the district town of Düren , North Rhine-Westphalia . It is partially still preserved.
Building history
Düren was mentioned for the first time in the Franconian Reichsannals in 747.
At the beginning of the 13th century, probably in 1212, the residents of Düren began building a wall around their extended settlement. The Guardian of the Düren Franciscan Monastery and city historian from Düren Jakob Polius (approx. 1588–1656) reports that a stone built into the old town hall above the vestibule is said to have had the following inscription: ANNO MILLENO CENTENO BIS DUODENO // COEPERUNT MUROS DURANI CONDERE DUROS. "Eleven times a hundred and four and twenty years after Christ // was fortified with strong walls by his Düren". This year is not proven.
As a fortified place ( imperial city ) oppidum nostrum Duren is mentioned in the year 1226. In 1261 the first city gate , the wooden gate, is mentioned. This suggests that the construction of the city wall had already begun.
The medieval city wall is built from red sandstone blocks. It is reinforced by candle arches between the city gates . These arches were only added in the 14th century to give the wall a greater hold when bombarded. From 1493 the wall was also reinforced with protruding round bastion towers made of bricks, which allowed a better defense of the wall sections in between.
City gates
- Düren in the work of Wenceslaus Hollar (around 1649–61)
Philip Gate
Wooden gate
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city wall
The course of the city wall and the locations of the city gates can be clearly seen from a drawing by Wenceslaus Hollar from 1634.
The Schellengasse tower , which has now completely disappeared, stood between Wilhelmstrasse and Philippstrasse . Between the Philippstor and the wooden tower stood the Münchenturm and the Powder Tower , which were also demolished. The big tower on the corner of Stürtzstrasse / Altenteich on the grounds of the Stiftisches Gymnasium recently had to be renovated. It had burst years ago because it had been filled with rubble that had been made very heavy by rainwater and had blown the outer skin. The Grönjansturm can still be seen on the school premises . In the Stürtzstraße standing spit tower , which has also been completely renovated. The rent master tower following in the direction of Obertor has disappeared. On the east side of the city wall stood the Lord's Tower and the Jesuit Tower . The Pletzergasse tower on Pletzergasse is still there.
A wall also belonged to the city wall . A double system of ditches was created in front of the city wall. In February 2011, when the foundation for the new shopping center was excavated on the post office on Hohenzollernstrasse, the approximately 5 m deep city moat was exposed. The moat was in front of the city wall. The remains of the trench are right next to the former Pletzerturm.
today
Much of the city wall survived the air raid on November 16, 1944 . Today parts of the city wall are covered by the existing residential buildings.
Individual parts of the city fortifications that have been preserved are entered in the list of monuments of the city of Düren, in detail:
Towers:
- Spike tower or "gray cap" with remains of the city wall
- Pletzergasse tower
- Thick tower
- Grönjansturm
- Schützenstrasse roundabout
Remains of the city wall:
- Remnants of the city wall on August-Klotz-Strasse / Wallstrasse
- Remnants of the city wall on August-Klotz-Strasse
- Remnants of the city wall at Schenkelstrasse 6-8
- Remains of the city wall in Oberstrasse
- 84 m long and 3.5 m high fortification between the thick tower and the Grönjansturm
- Remains of the city wall at Hohenzollernstrasse / Waisenhausstrasse
Other fortifications:
Others
A working group of the Stftischen Gymnasium has been dealing with the city wall since 2004 and was awarded a certificate by the monument authority of the city of Düren.