Red Gate (Augsburg)

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Red gate with city wall from the west
View through the gate to the front gate

The Red Gate (formerly also called Spitaltor or Haunstetter Gate ) was part of the former Augsburg city fortifications and was not removed when the city wall was torn down in the 19th century.

building

It is located in the south of Augsburg city ​​center. The name is derived from the red color of the tower, which it had in the Middle Ages and which it received again in the course of renovation in the 20th century. Together with the bridge, the front gate as well as the bastion and the city moat, the gate formed the red gate wall system , the main parts of which have been preserved to this day.

  • Red gate with outside gate, bastion and bridge from the open-air theater

  • City wall east of the Red Gate from the Rotetorbastion

  • Bridge and aqueduct in front of the Rotetorbastion

  • Aqueduct under the bridge

Today the Augsburg open-air theater occupies the south-facing area in front of the gate. Since then, the gate itself has been part of the locked backstage area of ​​the open-air stage and can only be passed through by authorized persons. The sundial on the south side of the tower can only be read from the open-air stage and from the ramparts.

history

Postcard from Augsburg (before 1917)

The gate was first mentioned in documents in 1223, but it is assumed that there was a gate at this point as early as 1187. It served as the southern city gate and as a passage for the Via Claudia towards Tyrol and Italy. In 1371 a new building took place after the old gate burned down. In 1388 the facility was expanded to include a moat and a bridge. In the 15th century the gate system was raised and expanded.

In 1545 the bastion at the Red Gate was built and in 1604 it was redesigned by the city architect Elias Holl . In 1777 the old wooden bridge gave way to a new stone building, which also served as an aqueduct . During the abandonment of the fortifications in the middle of the 19th century, it was decided not to dismantle the Red Gate. Around 1900 the city moat was redesigned into a green area. In 1929 the open-air theater , which is still in use today, was inaugurated. In 1983, on the occasion of the Augsburg State Horticultural Show in 1985, the city of Augsburg created the Augsburg herb garden below the Heilig-Geist-Spital .

The Red Gate used to have almost a "twin sister" in Augsburg, the Gögginger Gate , which was newly built by Elias Holl , but which was demolished in 1862.

See also

literature

  • Franz Häussler: Augsburg's goals . Wißner-Verlag, Augsburg 2002, ISBN 3-89639-346-4 , p. 20th ff .
  • Hermann Kießling: towers - gates - bastions . Brigitte Settele Verlag, Augsburg 1987.

Web links

Commons : Rotes Tor (Augsburg)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andreas Mayer: The Augsburg herb garden . In: Natural Science Association for Swabia (Ed.): Reports of the Natural Science Association for Swabia . tape 116 , 2012, p. 2–14 ( digitized version [PDF; 6.0 MB ; accessed on August 16, 2018]).

Coordinates: 48 ° 21 ′ 35.6 ″  N , 10 ° 54 ′ 10.6 ″  E