Eigelsteintorburg
The Eigelsteintorburg on the edge of Cologne's Eigelstein district (in the Middle Ages Porta Eigelis , Igelsteinportz (en) , Eigelsteinportz (en) ; later Eigelsteinpforte , Eigelsteintor ; Kölsch Eijelsteinspooz ) is one of four preserved city gate castles of the medieval city wall .
Origin of name
The name of the Eigelsteintorburg is derived from the road that passes under it: Eigelstein . On this street, which dates back to Roman times, there were cemeteries outside the urban area, on whose tombs stone pine cones were often affixed as a symbol of immortality : These looked like acorns to Cologne residents , so they were called "Eychelsteyne". Under French rule the gate was called Porte de L'Aigle ( Eagle Gate ).
Historical classification
On some representations of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , for example on the Cologne cityscape of 1570 Arnold Mercator , Cologne was depicted with twelve large gates that aimed at the image of the heavenly Jerusalem (hence the term Sancta Colonia and Dat hillige Coellen = the holy Cologne) . These twelve gates (Kahlenhausen Gate, Eigelsteintor, Gereonstor , Friesentor , Ehrentor , Hahnentor , Schaafentor, Weyertor , Bachtor (since the 18th century with Pantaleon windmill) , Pantaleonstor , Ulrepforte (since the 14th century with Karthäuser windmill) and Severinstor) were integrated into the ring-shaped part of the city wall running from the Kunibert tower in the north (with the gate to the banks of the Rhine) to the Bayenturm in the south.
Seven of the gates were large, crenellated double semicircular tower archways , two were large tower archways with a central, octagonal tower structure and corner wardrobes (side towers: Ehrentor) or hexagonal main tower and defensive core (Severinstor), one was a large tower gate castle (Friesentor) without corner towers on a rectangular central tower Substructure, two were smaller double tower gates (the Kahlhausen gate with square and round tower and the Ulre gate with two round towers and Karthauser mill). In addition, there were more than 20, in the city wall running along the Rhine and z. Larger and smaller gates integrated in their towers (including small and large Witschgassentor, Filzengrabentor (double gate), Rheingassentor (double gate), Hasengassentor, Markmannsgassentor, Fischpforte, Mühlengassentor, Neugasse gate, Frankenpforte and Trankgassentor (double gates with a high central tower) when archways were built. In addition to the Eigelsteintor, the similarly built Hahnentorburg , the Severinstorburg and the Ulrepforte still exist today of the 12 gates .
The Eigelsteintorburg is one of the most visited sights in Cologne.
It was built in the course of the third city expansion from 1180 to 1259 (between 1228 and 1248) and secured the northern access to the city ( Neusser Straße ). It was the second gate with this name. During the second expansion of the city in 1106, the first Eigelstein Gate was built 100 m south of the current site (north of the Roman north gate - later also called Pfaffenpforte ).
Special events
On the evening of September 13, 1804, during the French era, Emperor Napoleon I, accompanied by his wife Joséphine , triumphantly entered the city through the Eigelsteintorburg amid bells and the thunder of cannons. He drove over the Eigelstein to reach the Neumarkt via the Marzellenstrasse, Hohe Strasse and Schildergasse .
1880 until today
On the map by Jean Joseph Tranchot (created 1801–1814; published 1840) the Eigelstein gate is called “porte de Neuss”. After the city wall in this area was torn down (1882), the city architect Josef Stübben restored the gate castle between 1889 and 1892. Stübben saw the gate more as a traffic obstacle because he was anxious to create new north-south traffic routes. The rectangular windows with bars on the field side were replaced by medieval loopholes. On the city side, the eastern vault was opened. The floors above the gate again received double-arched windows, as can be seen in the Cologne cityscape from 1531 by the renaissance painter Anton Woensam von Worms . The connections to the city wall can still be seen today.
On the city side in front of the western half-tower, Josef Stübben built a new staircase with a representative entrance. In the 1960s this entrance was closed and replaced by a new entrance from the gate passage.
In 1891 a stone figure “Der Kölsche Boor” (The Cologne Farmer), originally intended by Christian Mohr for the Hahnentor in 1885, was installed in a niche on the city side. With the city key on his left arm, he leans on a flail with his left hand, on a shield with his right hand, completely covered with the Cologne double-headed eagle, which bears the old Cologne coat of arms on the chest - the three crowns in the head of the shield, the main part bare (until the 16th century). Historically, the farmer goes back to the four constituent elements of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation . In the quaternion system , Cologne and other cities represented the peasant class . In 1891 the memorial was supposed to represent the solidarity with the empire. This becomes clear with the slogan Halt fass do Kölscher Boor chiseled underneath. Stay with Rich et fall sös ov sor. (High German: "Hold tight, you Cologne farmer , stay with the Reich, it will fall (come) sweet or sour.").
The statue we see today is a replica that was made in place of the weathered original during the late 1970s. The original was only installed in the neighboring Em Kölsche Boor inn , and then after a few years in the town hall.
Use from 1815
The Eigelsteintorburg was rebuilt, reinforced and used as a military prison several times during Prussian times. After the repair, the gate was initially used as a natural science museum, and from 1898 as a historical museum in addition to the Hahnentor . The cutter wreck of the First World War sunken cruiser Cologne 1915 was suspended until the door is moving, from 1926 in the eastern tower vault.
The Eigelsteintorburg survived the Second World War without major damage, only the wooden gallery facing the field was burned down. The first exhibition in post-war Cologne opened here on March 21, 1946 in the midst of the ruins of the old town (“Masterpieces from Cologne museums”, 13013 visitors). The Eigelsteintorburg was used for exhibitions until September 1963.
The Open Jazz House School moved into the unused building in 1995. The club had previously lodged in the Bayenturm, among other places . The central rooms above the passage can since then be rented for celebrations and events.
The annual cycle race in front of the Eigelsteintor , which has been running on a 2 km long course through the Eigelstein district since 1977, is considered a “little classic” .
literature
- The Art Monuments of the City of Cologne, Volume Two, Section IV, The Profane Monuments ; Ed .: Paul Clemen, 1930
- Der Kölner Bauer , Beatrix Alexander, Ed .: City of Cologne, Cologne City Museum, 1987
- Exhibitions in Cologne, 1946 - 1966 , publisher: City of Cologne, Office for Art and Public Education, 1966 (?)
- Udo Mainzer , city gates in the Rhineland , publisher: Rheinischer Verein für Denkmalpflege und Landschaftsschutz eV, yearbook 1975, Verlag Gesellschaft für Buchdruckerei AG, Neuss
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Special exhibition: Above and below on the Eigelstein. In: Kölnische Rundschau. January 28, 2014.
Extension (including remaining Roman systems) from 1106: Old Kahlenhausen Gate | Old Eigelstein Gate | Cube gate | Lion Gate | Old Hahnentor | Old Schaafentor | Eifelpforte | Greek gate | Old stream gate | St. John's Gate | Next Alley Gate
Extension from 1180: Kunibertsturm | Wake-up snap * | Kahlenhausen or Judenpforte | Eigelsteintorburg * | Gereonsmühle * | Gereonstor | Friesentor | Goal of honor | Hahnentorburg * | Schaafentor | Weyertor | Stream gate | Pantaleon Gate | Ulrepforte * | Severinstorburg * | Bottmühle * | Bayenturm *
Rhine side: Dreikönigenpforte | Lead wicket | Next Alley Gate | Small Witschgasse Gate | Holzmarktpforte | Great Witschgasse Gate | Filzengrabentor | Flour Gate | Rheingassentor | Hasenpforte | Wash gate | Markmannsgassentor | Forge gate | Velpforte | Salzgasse Gate | Lintgasse Gate | Fish gate | Mill Lane Gate | Neugassentor | Fire gate | Frankenturm | Drinking alley gate | Kostgassentor | Blomengasse Gate
* preserved building
Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 57.5 ″ N , 6 ° 57 ′ 24.5 ″ E