Grendeltor

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The Grendeltor and the landing stage on the altarpieces by Hans Leu the Elder

The Grendeltor , also called "the Grendel" for short according to Salomon Vögelin, formed the end of the late medieval city ​​fortifications of Zurich towards Lake Zurich . The Grendeltor served as a passage for shipping between the Limmat and Lake Zurich. It was the only Zurich water gate and stood on the right bank in the Limmat, around the northern end of today's Bellevuehaus on Limmatquai 3.

The Grendeltor as part of the city fortifications

The city fortifications on the Murer map from 1576. On the far right, the Grendeltor with the buzzers.
The upper Limmatraum on the Müllerplan from 1790. Above right the Grendeltor with the buzzers, to the left of it the boat landing .

The city of Zurich probably protected itself as early as the High Middle Ages with Letzinen and Letzigräben , as defensive lines in front of the city walls, on the left and right banks of the Limmat, on the Zürichberg , Käferberg and Uetliberg as well as in the Limmat Valley with additional works.

At the Grendeltor, a high fence, the Grendel, ran across the Limmat to the opposite end of the city ​​wall . A double row of palisades , the Schwirren, protected the Limmat outflow on the lake side. The plural “buzzing” was used to denote fortifications near the shore that were supposed to prevent enemy ships from landing - other important ones were in Lucerne , near Arth , Brunnen and Stansstad .

Grendeltor

To the left of the pointed arch of the gate opening , on a yellow background, in the middle of the double shield of the city of Zurich, was the imperial symbol, a black, two-headed eagle. On the lake side of the gate, the opening times of the gate and the amount of the toll were visible for the ship traffic entering the "Schifflände" on Limmatquai . The gate was connected to the right bank of the river by a piece of wall with battlements, and stairs led up to the building.

The guard's apartment, the Grendelhütte, was in the half-timbered building above the archway made of ashlars. Known from a room program from 1829 are the guard room with alcove , chamber, forecourt, kitchen and toilet as well as a staircase to the attic with the oriel tower . These served as sleeping chambers for the Grendelwart and the crew of the tower, presumably also for the guard's family. There was another floor above it. The apartment also had a small wooden shed and a cellar outside the wall. In 1829 the guard had to pay ten shillings interest to the Grossmünsterstift .

Grendelwart

Every morning at six o'clock the Grendelwart had the spiked bar, which was attached to a long chain, open by the current from his apartment. When the gate closed in the evening, he chained this beam back into the passage.

During the day, the Grendelwart monitored ship traffic down from the tower and was responsible for collecting the road toll. To do this, he lowered a kettle on a rope so that those entering the country could deposit customs in it. The container was then pulled up and shipping was allowed to pass the Grendeltor.

Ship landing

Ship landing with Grendeltor. Colored copper engraving by J. Meyer, around 1830.

The Schifflände, north of the Grendeltor on the right bank of the Limmat, was the medieval landing place and trading port for sea and Limmat shipping. There, merchandise was reloaded from the large ocean-going vessels, which transported up to 60 tons, onto Limmat Weidlinge with a load capacity of around 1.5 tons. The natural bays on the outflow towards the Limmat were filled in with the expansion of the city of Zurich from 1834 and form today's Schifflände-Strasse between Kirchstrasse and Torgasse.

history

The construction date is assumed to be around the middle of the 15th century. It is probable that the experiences from the “ Sea War” during the Old Zurich War (1436/50) on Lake Zurich were incorporated into the construction of the Grendeltor and its upstream fortifications.

In an occupancy list from before 1489, two rifle shooters appear "uff der hutten", by which the Grendeltor should be meant. In 1578 the Grendelwache, "the awake to the buzzing on the huts" , was guaranteed day and night. When the city fortifications were expanded in 1657, the pentagonal Ravelin "Kratz", today's Bauschänzli, was placed in front of the Grendeltor . In 1661 the buzzers were reinforced by a new row of palisades, the outer grendel. Between 1694 and 1699 the Grendel was expanded; Since then, it has been provided with a Zurich coat of arms on the lake and city sides. An additional and final fortification in the form of a so-called "Corps de Garde" took place in 1779/80.

  • Grendeltor, engraving by Charles Louis Guigon (1807–1822)

  • Grendeltor on the city model by Hans Langmack

  • View from the former location of the Grendel to the ship landing and the Sonnenquai , engraving by Deroy, 1845

  • Grendeltor and Schwirren viewed from the northeast. On the right in the background the Ravelin "Kratz", in the foreground the ship landing. Colored copper engraving by Hans Jakob Kull, around 1820

  • Current location of the Grendel Gate, March 2008

The palisades were demolished in 1834, the Grendeltor in 1836 - not least due to pressure from the rural population, who demanded free entry into the city to the Stadtzürcher Markt . At the same time, most of the medieval city fortifications were removed.

various

literature

  • City walls. A new picture of Zurich's city fortifications , text for the exhibition in the Haus zum Rech. Urban history and urban development in Zurich; Writings on archeology, monument preservation and urban planning, 5th Zurich 2004.
  • Thomas Germann: Zurich in Time Lapse , Volume 1. Werd Verlag, Zurich 1997. ISBN 3-85932-227-3
  • Hans Peter Treichler : Bulwarks of Reaction: The Zurich Schanzen. In: Hans Peter Treichler: The mobile wilderness. Biedermeier and the far west. Schweizer Verlaghaus AG, Zurich 1990. ISBN 3-7263-6523-0
  • Franz A. Roedelberger: Zurich in 500 pictures. A city book . Publishing Cooperative Zurich, Zurich 1944.

Web links

Commons : Grendeltor  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Salomon Vögelin: The historical and topographical representation of old Zurich, or a hike through the same in 1504, Zurich 1829, p. 175.
  2. ↑ From Old High German grintil or Middle High German grindel, grendel , 'bar, crossbar, bar, barricade, drawbar, plow tree'; For more, see Schweizerisches Idiotikon Vol. II Sp. 757, Article Grendel , with the meanings 'Gatter, Palisadenwerk', 'Pflugbaum', 'Pflugsterz' and 'Tools for the quarry'.
  3. ↑ From Middle High German swir 'Uferpfahl'; See Schweizerisches Idiotikon Vol. IX Sp. 2132, Article Schwir , especially meaning 1aλ column 213.
  4. ↑ Walk through Alt-Züri: Grendel , accessed on May 11, 2008
  5. ^ Geographical Institute of the University of Bern. Yesterday's traffic policy, today's traffic problems? by Dominik Bucheli
  6. ↑ Thomas Germann: Zurich in Time Lapse ( Memento of the original from January 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 11, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thomas-germann.ch
  7. ↑ Website of the former scratching quarters with plans, illustrations and further explanations, accessed on May 11, 2008
  8. ↑ Redesign of the outside area of ​​the Bauschänzli restaurant, Zurich Old Town: Documentation on the reopening on May 9, 2006. Published by the property management of the City of Zurich, May 2006.
  9. ↑ Barraud / Jezler: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Zürich, new edition, Volume 1, Basel 1999
  10. ↑ Heraldry of the Zürcher Dorfwappen , accessed on May 11, 2008
  11. ↑ Heinrich Pfenninger's sheet is still available in a few copies and can be obtained from the publisher: www.paedag.ch.

Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '4.7 "  N , 8 ° 32' 38.8"  E ; CH1903:  683500  /  246936