Jakobstor (Regensburg)
The Jakobstor in Regensburg was part of the city fortifications of Regensburg that were built at the beginning of the 14th century . The gate is located on the western edge of the old town of Regensburg and got its name from the immediately neighboring Schottenkloster St. Jakob . The gate led to the important trade routes to Augsburg and Nuremberg. The two semicircular towers, which are now called Jakobstor, were formerly part of a heavily fortified, extensive gate system. The facility consisted of two storage buildings connected by the city wall, which formed an inner courtyard protected by two high defensive towers, and a drawbridge system spanning the city moat, which was protected by the two semicircular towers. The approximately 100 m long facility took up the entire western half of today's Jakobsstrasse.
location
The Jakobstor at the western end of Jakobsstraße now leads from the old town of Regensburg to the Unity Square , which was previously called the Platz in front of the Jakobstor . From here the path leads to the neighboring city park . Several streets branch off from the square and lead to the western and southern suburbs of Regensburg ( Prüfing , Großprüfening-Dech Betten-Königswiesen , Kumpfmühl ). Two of these roads also function as a feeder road. This means that all east-west traffic flows that cross the old town of Regensburg, including four local transport lines, are bundled at the narrow Jakobstor. The Jakobstor is such a highly frequented means of transport that it had to be completely renovated in 2019 at a cost of 53,000 € because the “salt-eaten” outer facades of both towers had to be chipped off and replaced.
history
The original Jakobstoranlage, built at the beginning of the 14th century, was an important exit and entrance to the city. All important long-distance trade routes to the west and south (e.g. to and from Munich, Augsburg and Nuremberg) that did not cross the Stone Bridge began and ended here . However, through the Jakobstor the already mentioned neighboring southern suburbs were reached, which were important for the food supply of Regensburg. The Jakobstor was also attractive for the pedestrian Regensburg population, especially since the city park was built immediately in front of the gate after 1511 , where the practice areas for the shooting clubs were located. After 1527 the Protestant cemetery was built there and later after 1812 and 1822 the Catholic and Jewish cemeteries.
In the Thirty Years' War during the fighting for Regensburg , the Jakobstor and the walls adjoining it to the south were particularly badly shelled. The city gate held up, the south-facing walls, porches and bastions were more vulnerable and were partially destroyed. This led to the conquest of the city by the Swedes in November 1633. After the war, squares and paths, parks and cemeteries in front of the Jakobstor were completely ruined, but were quickly renewed.
After 1800, the urban recreation and excursion areas on the banks of the Danube, which were becoming increasingly popular at the time, could be reached from the Jakobstor. The traffic connection was particularly important for the suburb of Prebrunn , located on the banks of the Danube and populated by craftsmen and fishermen , which has always been outside the city wall, but has always remained economically very closely connected to the city. After 1656, trade with Prebrunn had to be carried out via the Jakobstor, because after the construction of the new Prebrunnbastei in today's Herzogspark , the urban area could no longer be reached by carts along the Danube, because the Prebrunnor was buried by the raised bastion hill.
Description of the original gate system
Of the former large gate system of the Jacobstore, which was built around 1301 in connection with the landside city wall of the city fortifications, only the two semicircular towers of the former bridge gate system are preserved today. The entire former Jakobstoranlage comprised several structures, including two storage buildings on the side, two separate high defense towers, the bridge gate system and the city wall that runs across Jakobsstrasse and connects individual structures.
The city wall beginning on the banks of the Danube in today's Herzogspark initially followed the course of today's Stahlzwingerweg road southwards to the confluence of Stahlzwingerweg with today's Jacobsstraße . There, in the middle of today's Jakobsstrasse, rose the so-called Jakobstorturm, which was similar to the surviving Ostentorturm . The city wall connected to this gate tower on both sides, so that one could only get through this first city gate to the inner courtyard behind it and then on to the actual Jakobstor with a bridge over the city moat. The Binnenhof was delimited on both sides by two warehouse buildings. These buildings were connected to the city gate tower by locking wall tongues to the east and to one of the two semicircular towers of the bridge structure to the west. The Binnenhof thus formed the extended kennel area of the city wall, which then followed today's Wiesmeierweg in its further course to the south .
The exit from the city and the transition over the city moat took place via a drawbridge. One reached the bridge through another outer gate, which was flanked by the two semicircular towers preserved today. These bridges for their part were protected by a high defense tower immediately to the south, which, like the Jacobstorturm, has not been preserved. Of the two storage buildings on the side, the northern building was preserved. It served as a municipal hay and wood store, housed a police station until 2013 and is now used as a hotel. The southern warehouse building, used as a straw warehouse, was converted into a palace in 1829 and is now used as a residential building.
The former large Jakobstoranlage was largely demolished in 1815, 50 years earlier than the other city fortifications. The reason for this was certainly the strong obstructions to traffic due to the walls running across the street and the gate tower in the middle of the street. The outer gate between the two semicircular towers, which are the only ones to remain, was also demolished. They received battlements, tracery windows and also passages for pedestrians in the neo-Gothic style. In order to make the two semicircular towers into a gate again, they were connected by a wall with an ogival gate passage, which, however, had to give way to the tram lines as early as 1903. The last remains of the neo-Gothic remodeling disappeared in 1957, with the exception of the battlements, which were preserved.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jacob's gate eaten away by salt. Retrieved on September 7, 2019 (German).
- ^ Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service GmbH, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 602 f .
- ^ Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service GmbH, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 542 f., p. 446 ff .
Coordinates: 49 ° 1 ′ 7.4 ″ N , 12 ° 5 ′ 13.6 ″ E