Old Leipzig Gate

Remaining eastern casemate of the railway fortress gate, behind it the flooded cathedral rock

The Old Leipzig Gate was a railway fortress gate of the Magdeburg Fortress and has been partially preserved.

It is the oldest railway fortress gate built in Germany and was created with the construction of the first Prussian railway line Magdeburg – Leipzig by the Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company between 1837 and 1840. Since Magdeburg as a fortress city was completely surrounded by fortifications, the railway had to have its own military secured gate into the fortress. A three-part gate was created between two casemates . The eastern casemate was built into the Elbe , which flows here over the cathedral rock . To the west of the gate, immediately south of Magdeburg Cathedral , was the Cleve Bastion . There was a ditch with a drawbridge in front of the gate, but it was removed before 1870.

The eastern casemate battery , made of quarry stone masonry and now a listed building, has been preserved . Inside there are brick vaults that have housed a restaurant since 2017. The system is covered by an earth cover. The eaves cornice is made of stone .

The facility is located in Magdeburg's old town , east of the Schleinufer directly on the Elbe.

literature

• Heinz Gerling : Monuments of the city of Magdeburg. Helmuth-Block-Verlag, Magdeburg 1991, ISBN 3-910173-04-4 , p. 110.
• Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Magdeburg Fortress. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 108 ff.
• List of monuments in Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 14: State capital Magdeburg. State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-531-5 , p. 488 f.

Individual evidence

1. ^ List of monuments, page 488; Different time information in Gerling: 1838 to 1840

Coordinates: 52 ° 7 '23.7 "  N , 11 ° 38' 11.4"  E