Junkerstor

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Junkerstor in 1790

The Junkerstor , also called Vaalser Tor , was a city ​​gate of the outer city wall of the city of Aachen, built around 1300-1350 . It is no longer preserved.

location

The Junkerstor had no counterpart in the inner city wall. It was on a road that branched off to the west from Jakobstrasse and led via Vaals to Maastricht .

In the outer ring of the wall , the Junkerstor was located in the west-southwest between Jakobstor and Königstor . The Liège Schanze with its double wall was facing the Jakobstor . The tower without a name was on the wall ring between Junkerstor and Jakobstor, on the corner of the front wall of the kennel the Eyerkeil tower . On the inside of the city, to the left of the Junkerstor, was the passage to the Zwinger. The Pfaffenturm was between Junkerstor and Königstor .

history

At the beginning of its construction, the gate was known as the "Junkheitsport", from which the name "Junkerstor" arose. As the road to Vaals and Maastricht that led through the gate, which was specially used by horse and carts, was of great importance for supplying the city, this defensive structure was also called "Vaelsertor" or "Vaalser Tor". During the French occupation of Aachen , the French changed the name of the city gate to "Jakobstor" after they had renamed the original Jakobstor to "Lütticher Tor". However, this resulted in linguistic ambiguities and mix-ups, which led to the fact that the gate was called "Port nobel" (noble gate) after another name change. Shortly before it was demolished in 1829, it was given its original name "Junkerstor" back.

In front of the Junkerstor a small bridge spanned the Johannisbach . Through him a pond about 200 m long had formed in the city moat. The path from Junkerstor along the city moat to Königstor was very popular with walkers in summer. Water lilies and other aquatic plants grew in the pond . In spring the frogs started their concerts here. Today the railway tracks are at this point.

description

As a side gate, the Junkerstor wasn't particularly big. The main building was a simple rectangular tower with a width of 15.30 m and a depth of 11.60 m. Old drawings show that there was a Madonna figure above the archway , it is now in the St. James' Church .

Unlike all other Aachen city gates on the outer city wall, the Junkerstor did not have a front gate. The kennel at Lütticher Schanze made this superfluous.

In 1829 the gate was demolished.

literature

See also

Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 14.5 "  N , 6 ° 4 ′ 25.7"  E