Spandauer Tor

Spandau Gate around 1450 (field side)

The Spandauer Tor was a gate of the medieval Berlin city wall as well as the fortifications of Berlin in the 17th century. In accordance with its function in the Berlin fortifications, the gate had a connecting wooden bridge and was then also called the bridge . A street that was later routed here is called An der Spandauer Brücke .

Location and history

The medieval gate had been located at the northern end of Spandauer Straße since the 13th century, close to the Heilig-Geist-Spital , which was located within the wall ring . The depiction of the medieval gate around 1450 was not made until 1881 and is therefore not to be regarded as authentic. The portrayal of the gate around 1700 was not made until 1838 and obviously does not show the medieval gate, but a gate that was built later, about the time of which nothing is known.

Spandauer Tor of the baroque fortification around 1700 (city side). To the right of the gate the Powder Tower

1688: Spandauer Tor in the north of the city fortifications

1748: Area around the Spandau Bridge between the districts of Old Berlin and Spandau Revier

Several streets ran from the gate outside the city wall, including the one to Neuruppin and Hamburg (Große and Kleine Hamburger Straße), to the nearby villages of Rosenthal ( Rosenthaler Straße ), Pankow and Schönhausen (Neue and Alte Schönhauser Straße ) and the one to Spandau (since 1824 Oranienburger Strasse ), from which the gate takes its name.

With the construction of the baroque fortifications from 1658 to 1662 under Johann Gregor Memhardt , the gate was relocated to the northeast between two bastions , with a wooden drawbridge leading over the newly built fortress moat to the Ravelin in front and from there another bridge to the Spandau suburb. The old gate at the end of Spandauer Strasse, now inoperable, existed until around 1700. After that, it was demolished for the construction of the garrison church with schoolhouse. After the fortifications were demolished, a square was formed in front of the former baroque gate at the fork in Oranienburger Strasse and Rosenthaler Strasse around 1750 - the Hackesche Markt .

The bend in the street leading to the tram underpass with the name An der Spandauer Brücke still reminds of the former bridge over the moat in front of the gate .

literature

• Institute for Monument Preservation (ed.): The architectural and art monuments in the GDR. Capital Berlin I ; Henschelverlag: Berlin 2nd edition 1984; P. 267.

Web links

• Explanation of the street name At the Spandauer Brücke near Kauperts
• History about Spandauer Straße

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 20 ″  N , 13 ° 24 ′ 10 ″  E