Plauer gate tower
The Plauer or Luckenberger Gate Tower is a tower in the old town wall in Brandenburg an der Havel . It is one of the former eight, today still four remaining gate towers of the two cities of Brandenburg and is part of the medieval defense system, which comprised a total of ten gates.
Surname
The Plauer or Luckenberger Tor protected the arterial road to the west of the old town of Brandenburg an der Havel. It is named after the former village of Luckenberg, about 500 m in front of the gate, which was presumably located between the Nikolaikirche and the northern bank of the Havel . The name more common today, which also corresponds more closely to Plauer Strasse passing south of the gate tower, is Plauer Gate Tower. He points out that the western arterial road from the old town in the direction of Magdeburg leads to the fishing town of Plaue .
shape
The Plauer or Luckenberger gate tower has the shape of an approximately 17 m high cylinder (up to today's battlements), which was covered by a half-timbered superstructure in the sixteenth century. This truss attachment is no longer available. For the millennium of the city of Brandenburg an der Havel, a crenellated wreath and a conical roof were built over the Plauer or Luckenberger gate tower. The foot of the tower, built from Brandenburg brick, consists of a 1.20 meter high field stone foundation above the ground. In contrast to the other gate tower remaining in the old town of Brandenburg, the Rathenower gate tower , the Plauer or Luckenberger gate tower is very plain and unadorned. To the northwest, a little over half the height of the tower, there is a protruding bay window with an outlet that is open to the bottom, which was used by the former tower crew as an exit. There is a passage to the former gate facing Plauer Straße, from which the tower could be reached. The Plauer or Luckenberger Tor released the south-western wall ring of the old town in the direction of the Havel, Salzhofufer and New Gate of the old town, which guarded the transition from the Long Bridge to the New Town . To the northwest, a defensive tower followed after about 150 m, which reinforced the wall ring towards the Marienberg or Harlungerberg . The Rathenower Tor follows about 200 m further, protecting the northwestern exit route towards Fohrde , Pritzerbe and Rathenow .
History of origin
Nothing is known about the year this tower was built. It can be assumed that the Plauer or Luckenberger gate tower was already an integral part of the defense system with the creation of the stone city wall and the upstream double ramparts. Even if the few late medieval depictions showing the tower do not show a pronounced double gate, it can be reasonably assumed that the Plauer or Luckenberger Tor was a well-fortified structure.
particularities
In 1403 Johann von Quitzow undertook an attack on the old town with his brushwood , seeking cover from the Nikolaikirche, which at that time was a ruin in the open field. However, the plans for the attack were brought to the attention of the Old Town Council and the robber baron, in turn, surprised with a military failure of the Old Town vigilantes and put them to flight.
The Plauer or Luckenberger Gate Tower was integrated into the northern development of Plauer Strasse until the end of May 1945 in such a way that a mighty console stone on its northeastern sector accommodated an overlying half-timbered house, which, however, in a negligent arson by Soviet soldiers with the entire northern street line up to to the alley The Huck went down. A passage led under the half-timbered house. Today the course of the north-western wall ring adjoining the tower is marked by a red brick strip, while the south-western wall ring is still intact up to the site of the former Franciscan monastery of St. Johannis . Clay sculptures of various animals (from northeast to northwest: rat, snake, cow, pig, camel, goat, donkey, wolf) are located in several niches that were once set into the tower to accommodate scaffolding beams. They were created by the Brandenburg artist Horst Wall, who died in 2012.
The tower is currently not accessible. The Plau Gate Tower must also remain closed on the Brandenburg Door Day, when the three other remaining gate towers in Brandenburg an der Havel ( Rathenower Gate Tower in the old town, Neustadtischer Mühlentorturm and Steintorturm in Neustadt) can be entered by visitors, as it is safe to visit for structural reasons and Security aspects cannot be guaranteed.
literature
- Friedrich Grasow: Brandenburg, the millennial city - A walk through the culture and architecture of past centuries. Self-published by the city of Brandenburg, Brandenburg an der Havel in 1928.
- Chronicle of the city of Brandenburg. Published by the Urban History Working Group of the City of Brandenburg an der Havel in the Brandenburgischer Kulturbund e. V., Verlag B. Neddermeyer, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-933254-40-X .
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 24 '44.1 " N , 12 ° 33' 5.3" E