Martinstor

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St Martin (Freiburg) 3034 (cropped) .jpg
Martinstor from the south
Martinstor Freiburg city side (7918003428) (cropped) .jpg
View from the north


The Martinstor (in the Middle Ages also Norsinger Tor ) in Kaiser-Joseph-Straße is the older of the two still preserved gate towers of the medieval city ​​fortifications of Freiburg im Breisgau compared to the Schwabentor .

history

By dendrochronological dated studies of the wooden beams to the year 1202, the gate was as "Porta Sancti Martini" 1238 first mentioned. The base is 10 by 11 meters. The wall thickness to the south is 3.10 m below and 2.70 m on the upper floor; the side walls are a little weaker. The Martinstor was previously inserted flush into the city wall and connected to the battlement behind the battlements of the wall crown. This former opening can be seen on the east side of Martinstor at a height of a few meters.

Memorial plaque on the occasion of the struggles of the Freiburg vigilante groups against French revolutionary troops in 1796
Martinstor, city side, before the renovation, approx. 1900
Double-headed eagle

Over the centuries it has been rebuilt several times; At times it also served as a prison, the inmates of which were said to have been "put on their Martin's coat".

Since the 17th century the city side has been decorated with an image of St. Martin . The Martinstor lost its connection to the suburbs during this time due to the construction of the fortress and the leveling of the suburbs by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban . Now the salt road served as an entrance from the Höllental .

The portrait of Martin was renewed several times, most recently in 1851 by Wilhelm Dürr . It was removed in 1968/69. So far, the Freiburg city council has not been able to decide on a new representation, so that an empty area can be seen above an existing plaque commemorating the battles of the Freiburg vigilante groups against French revolutionary troops .

The Martinstor remained largely unchanged until the end of the 19th century. While parts of the citizenry now demanded the demolition of the two remaining city gates for traffic-related reasons, the Lord Mayor Otto Winterer campaigned to preserve and refurbish them. In June 1896 a competition began among German architects to select a design for the design of Martins- and Schwabentor. The private house on the west side of the gate had to be retained, but should have a passage on the ground floor. On the east side, the previously free-standing gate could be connected to the neighboring house. In addition to Winterer, Josef Durm , Carl Schäfer , Max Meckel and a member of the city council acted as judges. However, none of the competition entries were implemented. Instead, the city administration of Meckel and Schäfer asked for offers because the program conditions had changed. In 1899 it was decided to build the electric Freiburg tram , which required the relocation of the private houses that bordered the two towers. Schäfer suggested increasing the Martinstor from 22 to 66 meters, and at the Schwabentor from 26 to 65 meters. As a reason he named the higher houses in the area. His design combined the existing components from the early 13th century with late Gothic structures from the 15th century. In the summer of 1901, the renovation was carried out by the Freiburg builder Eugen Schmidt. On August 28, 1901, the topping-out ceremony was celebrated at both city gates, before they were completed on October 14 with the commissioning of the tram. The design commissioned by Schäfer in April 1902 to build over the pedestrian path on the east side of the gate was completed in May 1902. The planned overbuilding with two massive storeys as well as a third, which was designed as a half-timbered construction on the north side, but should appear massive on the south side, was not implemented. The reason for this was probably the refusal by the owner of the adjacent house. The four-part building complex Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 250-256, which he had built with four floors, also came from Schäfer, with the previous buildings having one floor less.

Next to the gate, a gate was built, also in historicizing style, with a second larger passage. The outside of the gate was decorated with a painted German imperial eagle over the coat of arms of Freiburg and Baden. This painting was removed in 1951. A replica of a baroque sandstone slab with the double-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire was later placed above the archway .

Around 2013 it was discussed whether a picture should be put on the Martinstor again. In addition to St. Martin by Simon Göser , depictions of Martin Luther King and Joß Fritz are in discussion. There are also critics of these proposals. In May 2013, the local council decided to draw up a draft resolution to set up an art commission, which should be decided in the second half of 2013. The art commission, which should exist continuously and not only decide in this case, could no longer be set up in 2013 due to the clarification of fundamental questions. In December 2014, the municipal council appointed the members of the commission, they started their work in spring 2015 and came to the conclusion in December: The gate should remain without a picture. The local council followed the recommendation.

present

McDonald's at Martinstor
Close-up view of the gate around 1905 with the Martinstor restaurant and a picture still available at the time

On the inner city side, next to the archway, there is a plaque as a reminder of the witch burnings in Freiburg. Representative are the three Freiburg citizens, Marghareta Mößmer , Catharina Stadelmann and Anna Wolffart , who were executed in 1599.

On the west adjacent the renovation in 1901 attached gatehouse is a fast-food restaurant of McDonald's , which points to the archway itself; the city council of Freiburg was able to prevent the affixing of the red and yellow logo of the restaurant chain.

In the small side street by the gate, the Martinsgässle, you will find the Martinsbräu next to the entrance to the Freiburg market hall .

The model railway accessories manufacturer Faller offers a kit model of the Martin Gate for the nominal sizes H0 and N.

On the commemorative coin 900 years of Freiburg , the Martinstor (view from the south) is depicted on the right. The outbuilding was slightly detached by the artist.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heiko Haumann , Hans Schadeck (Ed.): History of the City of Freiburg im Breisgau , Vol. 1, p. 117
  2. ^ Leonard Korth: The old Freiburg . In: Baden Architects and Engineers Association, Upper Rhine District (Ed.): Freiburg im Breisgau. The city and its buildings . HM Poppen & Sohn, Freiburg im Breisgau 1898, p. 202 ( Scan - Wikisource ).
  3. ↑ Peter Kalchthaler : Freiburg Mitte: Triumphbogen in Kaiserstraße , Badische Zeitung from May 3, 2010, accessed on December 30, 2010
  4. ^ Jutta Schuchard: Carl Schäfer 1844–1908. Life and work of the neo-Gothic architect , Prestel, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-7913-0373-2 , p. 311 f.
  5. ↑ Peter Kalchthaler: Freiburg and its buildings. An art-historical city tour. Revised 4th edition. Promo-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) 2006, ISBN 3-923288-45-X .
  6. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Debate about Göser-Bild: Martin Luther King or Jos Fritz on the Martinstor? , Badische Zeitung, January 15, 2013, accessed on June 2, 2013
  7. ↑ Julia Littmann: Interview: Image of the Martinstor? - "It is well placed there!" , Badische Zeitung, January 19, 2013, accessed on June 2, 2013
  8. ↑ Martin Flashar: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.prokulturhauptstadt-freiburg.de 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. , KulturJoker Freiburg, February 2013, and archived copy ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.prokulturhauptstadt-freiburg.de 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. , KulturJoker Freiburg, March 2013
  9. ^ Resolution TOP 4 of the 6th meeting of the municipal council , Ratsinfosystem Freiburg , May 14, 2013, accessed on June 2, 2013
  10. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Martinstor: Dispute over image at Martinstor: When does the art commission come? , Badische Zeitung, February 18, 2014, accessed on February 23, 2014
  11. ^ Simone Höhl: Freiburg: Heiligenbild: The neverending story around the Freiburg Martin Gate. Badische Zeitung, April 6, 2016, accessed on April 6, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Simone Höhl: Freiburg: Decision: Freiburg's Martinstor does not get a picture of Martin. Badische Zeitung, April 13, 2016, accessed on April 13, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Christopher Ziedler: 900 years of Freiburg. This is the official commemorative coin for Freiburg's city anniversary. , Badische Zeitung, September 5, 2018, accessed on September 9, 2019.

Web links

Commons : Martinstor Freiburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 59 ′ 37 ″  N , 7 ° 50 ′ 56 ″  E