Lions from Bentheimer Tor
The two lions from Bentheimer Gate are listed sandstone - sculptures that once this as Bentheimer gate known southern city gate Nordhorn ed. Its origin is dated to the 17th century . The lions have been standing at the main entrance of the Nordhorn Zoo on Menkenweg since 2001 .
The sculptures are referred to as Nordhorn Lions in the list of architectural monuments of the city of Nordhorn according to Section 3, Paragraph 2 of the Lower Saxony Monument Protection Act (NDSchG) .
history
Experts date the origin of the sandstone sculptures to the time of the Thirty Years War (1618–48). Due to the figurative style of representation and the age of the stones, experts cannot rule out that they are older. The sculptures once adorned the Bentheimer Pforte at the city exit on Bentheimer Straße, which was badly damaged in the Thirty Years' War.
A pencil drawing of the Bentheim city gate from 1853, created as an annex to a report by the road construction inspector Heinrich Wischer from Meppen on Nordhorn's city gates, shows the sandstone lions built into the Bentheim city gate. Wischer already recommended removing the city gate back then:
"Since the architectural value of these buildings is not to be estimated very highly and the preservation of them is to be advocated for this reason, I consider it very desirable to strive to remove them."
In fact, the Lingener Tor was demolished as early as 1747, but the Bentheimer Tor was fought for for several years until the Landdrosten decree of March 2, 1858
"... on the condition that the so-called Bentheimer Thor is removed and the street there is intentionally widened ... (Rep. 116, I, No. 7966)"
the demolition of this gate was decided and swiftly carried out by the magistrate.
“The magistrate sold most of the gate material to Amsterdam . The lions, which once rested on the gate (see illustration), continue their depressed existence in the house wall of the master plumber Kiepe on the main street, where the reader may have observed them often enough. "
According to another representation, however, they did not find their new place until 1903/04 to the left and right of the entrance to the newly built office building at Hauptstrasse 1.
As part of the redesign of the entrance and the shop window front of this house in 1956, the lions had to give way again.
The honorary director of the Nordhorn zoo , Arthur Griebenow, was responsible for the removal of the then unpopular sandstone troughs as well as the two lions as the head of the municipal vehicle fleet. He redirected the removal to the landfill at the zoo and thus saved the lions from destruction. The sculptures were initially placed at the former zoo entrance on Heseper Weg and later at the newly created main entrance on Menkenweg. In 1993 they had to vacate their place again as part of the zoo's dismantling and almost went under again during the bankruptcy phase of the zoo-sponsoring association.
In 1998 the lions were expertly restored on behalf of the zoo by the Nordhorn stonemason company Natursteinwerk Monser. The aggregate concrete base was replaced by Bentheim sandstone.
The lions have been standing in front of the entrance building on the Nordhorn Zoo's extension site since 2001.
literature
- Heinrich Specht: Bridges and gates of the city of Nordhorn. Bentheimer Heimatverlag, Nordhorn 1938
- Gerhard Klopmeyer: The lions from Bentheimer Tor. Der Grafschafter 1956 No. 43, p. 344
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gerhard Klopmeyer: The lions from the Bentheimer gate. Der Grafschafter 1956 No. 43, p. 344
- ^ Heinrich Specht: Bridges and gates of the city of Nordhorn. Bentheimer Heimatverlag, Nordhorn 1938. P. 42, Appendix B: The gates of the city.
- ^ Heinrich Specht: Bridges and gates of the city of Nordhorn. Bentheimer Heimatverlag, Nordhorn 1938, p. 48
- ↑ a b Nordhorn Zoo: Two sandstone lions
Koordinaten: 52° 25′ 45,4″ N, 7° 5′ 11,7″ O