City fortifications in Kempten (Allgäu)
The city fortification of Kempten is the medieval and early modern wall ring around the imperial city of Kempten . The city wall was started after the laying of the Iller at the end of the 13th century and was largely completed in the first quarter of the 14th century. In the 15th century, the two suburbs were included in the walling: the Brennergassenvorstadt on the left of the Iller and the Illervorstadt on the right of the Iller.
The city wall had a total of nine gate towers , two passages and further towers without a wall opening.
The territory of the imperial city outside the city wall was relatively small in terms of area. It was bordered with columns of peace. In the surrounding monastery area, imperial city citizens owned so-called civil rights, on which they partly had castles built, for example the Rotschlössle , the Haubenschloß or the Weidachschlößle .
history
The high medieval early urban settlement of Kempten was separated from the monastery, whose abbot was the city lord, when the river was moved through the Iller . With the abandonment of the old course of the river, additional settlement areas were gained and the city was spatially connected to the monastery. Only this technical masterpiece created the prerequisites for the construction of a surrounding wall ring. Sandstone blocks from the quarries along the Iller and the rock rib that runs from west to east through the Kempten urban area and emerges at the Burghalde and Lenzfried served as building material for the wall, towers and gates .
A battlement with battlements and loopholes formed the upper end of the city wall. The wall was later increased in some sections, which can still be seen from the contours of the old battlements. The loopholes were continuously adapted to the development of weapons. Only a part of the formerly upstream Zwingermauer remained along Beethovenstrasse (east of the Parktheater). The moat in front of the wall is nowhere to be found.
The Burghalde above the city was not included in the city fortifications from the start. The castle of the city lord, the prince abbot of Kempten, was sold to the imperial city as a ruin in 1379, but it was not re-fortified until 1488 and integrated into the city walls. Before it was outside the wall, separated from the imperial city by the moat.
In the 15th century, two new districts were walled and connected to the old wall ring: the Brennergassenvorstadt and the Illervorstadt on the other side of the Illers. Their walls turned out to be the weakest parts of the fortification. During the Thirty Years' War , the city wall did not withstand its only major test: the Imperial troops came on January 14, 1633 and from the west across the Schwaigwiese. During the recapture by Swedish troops, the walls in the area of the Brennergassentores proved to be too weak. The city wall only included the imperial city. The settlement at the abbot's monastery was never integrated into the complex and had no fortifications itself.
After a flood disaster in 1670, a so-called ice drift, the city wall along the Iller and Mühlinsel was torn away and had to be renewed. At that time, the course of the wall was moved inward in places, thus expanding the Mühlkanal.
When the imperial city became Bavarian in 1802/03 , the new city lord ordered the demolition of the fortifications, parts of the wall, towers and gates. The people of Kempten protested against this decision because extensive parts of the wall were integrated into houses and many parapet walk sections were used economically, e.g. B. by ropers and dyers. A further argument was put forward that the city wall along the river served as an escape route in the event of flooding. The royal administration could not be softened, so that in 1810 with the demolition of the monastery gate the time of a closed city fortification of Kempen was over. It was not until 1876 that the gate that actually hindered the flow of traffic, the Iller or Metzgertor, was demolished. The new city lord sold the wall in sections to citizens on the condition that these parts also be demolished, but this did not always happen, so that longer sections of the medieval wall are still preserved today.
Of the original city wall towers, only the powder turret in the Brennergassenvorstadt, the tower on the Burghalde and a side bastion of the monastery gate in an inner courtyard in Königstrasse are still standing today. The Ankertörle, formerly called Lochtörle, was only expanded into a large passage in modern times. The two gate towers on Burgstrasse, the Illertor and the Waisentor, which characterize the image of Kempten's old town today, are historicizing new buildings from 1986 and 1990 and are only roughly at the old location.
City wall extensions in the 15th century
In the late 15th century, the Burghalde was included in the city fortifications for the first time. At that time, the Brennergasse suburb, which was newly built in the late 14th century, was walled and provided with a city gate. From the walling of the Brennergassenvorstadt only the powder tower with the connecting wall to the Burghalde remains high.
The Illervorstadt on the other side of the Iller was also only enclosed with a wall and towers in the 15th century. The gate on the south side was called Steinrinnentor; it had a preliminary fortification, the so-called Red Gate. Parts of this 15th century city wall can still be seen along the Steinrinnenweg. The chapui tower, which is square in plan, on the edge of the slope, was built in 1842 with stones from the city wall on the foundations of a round corner tower. The wall around Chapuispark, which was also newly built at the time, probably follows the course of the old city wall on the slope edge. In front of the Gallo-Roman temple district in the Cambodunum Archaeological Park (APC) , the foundation of a round city wall tower was exposed and preserved, from which the wall led back down to the Iller. On Kaufbeurer Straße only a memorial plaque on the slope wall reminds of the former location of the infirmary, as this city gate was called, because it pointed in the direction of the infirmary at the Keckkapelle .
In the Middle Ages, the prince- abbot sat on the Burghalde as a representative of the city lords. In 1363 there was a scandal: The citizens came armed to the annual Martin's dinner on the Burghalde in 1363, drove out the prince abbot and his bailiff and destroyed the castle. Although the prince abbot won the year-long legal battle before the imperial court and would have had the right to compensation and reconstruction, he sold the ruins and the castle hill to the imperial city in 1379. The site lay fallow for more than a century. It was not until 1488 that the imperial city included the Burghalde in the city fortifications and connected it with truss walls with the wall sections below the mountain. In October 2009, parts of the city wall on Zwingerstraße were renovated and provided with a reconstructed battlement.
investment
Tour to the still existing parts of the city wall
From the Illerbrücke to the south, the city wall forms the facades of the buildings along the Brennergasse. It bends at right angles into Burghaldegasse and runs through the houses there to Webergasse. Inside the nun tower , the only original piece of the battlements remained within a building. The two construction phases of the battlements, the former battlements and the loopholes are clearly visible on the open section along Burghaldegasse.
On the slope below the Burghalde, the course of the wall bends again at right angles to the north. The wall encircled the Burghaldehügel along today's Burgstrasse. There is still a section built after 1363, in which humpbacks from the destroyed castle dump are walled up. In today's street area, the walls that had been built in the 15th century met the old city wall from the Burghalde. Along today's Burgstrasse, the course of the wall moved over the Freudenberg up to the left Illerhchterrasse. In this area, only a part of the original remained, the others have been rebuilt.
From the entrance to Fischerstraße behind the Künstlerhaus to the Parktheater there is a larger section with the Zwingermauer in front. The wooden top of the battlement is from the 19th century and was used by dyers to dry the fabric.
In the area of the Park Theater, the wall turned north. Built into the houses along Linggstrasse, the city wall has largely been preserved. Parts are still visible on the back in Zwingerstraße. Inconspicuously integrated into the new development, a short section of the city wall has survived in the courtyard area of the houses on Königstrasse. A side bastion of the monastery gate was included in the courtyard development of the building complex on the corner of Königstrasse and Residenzplatz. The polygonal half-shell tower is one of three original city towers; the other two are the powder tower and the tower on the Burghalde.
On Illerstrasse, between Mauergässele and Grabengasse, there is a larger section of the wall, the battlement of which has been renewed. A small remnant of the so-called Heidentürmles is still there.
To the south of the confluence of Gerberstrasse and Illerstrasse, larger sections of the city wall, which was renewed in 1670 and relocated to the inside, have been preserved, as well as in the gable wall of the so-called Stadtstadels (today Rossberger).
The longest intact section runs along Illerstraße from St. Mang's Church to the newly built Illertor. The reddish discoloration of the sandstones shows the traces of earlier fires in the sheds built on the outside.
Gates
The Kempten city wall had nine gate towers, two passages and several towers without a wall passage. The wall in the Brennergasse suburb had only one gate, the Brennergassentor near the banks of the Iller. The Iller suburb on the right bank and had five towers and three gates: The standing in the south Steinrinnen- or Hafnertor with the Red Gate, a Vorbefestigung and the road towards the Keck chapel where the infirmary stood located Siechentor .
Orphan gate
The Waisentor was originally called Neustätter Tor because it was the last city gate to be built on the filled-in Illerarm. Later it was also called the Dead Gate because it provided access to the imperial city cemetery, which had been laid out on a slope west of the Burghalde since 1535. It was only called the orphanage since the orphanage was built in the early 18th century. The gate, which was painted with a sundial on the outside , led to the Protestant cemetery , the town shooting range and the Burghalde. The so-called Katharinenloch for serious criminals was located under the gate . The orphan gate was demolished in 1865. In the years 1986 to 1988 the reinforced concrete gate was rebuilt to the east. Since then, there has been a two-lane road between the orphanage and the gate.
Illertor
The eastern city gate, also known as the Metzgertor , was located directly on the Illerbrücke , which connected the city with the Illervorstadt. On July 15, 1543, Emperor Charles V stepped through the gate, which is said to have been reminiscent of frescoes on the outer walls. To widen the access from the bridge to the city, the city bought the gate for 18,044 marks to be demolished in 1876. The gate was rebuilt in 1990 by a citizens' initiative, slightly moved away from the old location. Today it is used as an office space. The name Metzgertor the passage was due to its proximity to Stadtmetzge .
Fisherman's gate
The fisherman's gate was demolished in 1866. The gate was demolished to ensure access from Fischergasse (now Fischerstraße) to the new main station . Today only a plaque reminds of the city tower. The two city coats of arms and a fish were painted on the inside of the fishing gate . The gate was named after the fishermen who lived in the adjacent alley and fished in the Iller, which at that time was still flowing below the slope.
Monastery gate
The monastery gate was the most heavily fortified town gate in Kempten, which, in addition to its military significance, also had a representative character because it stood right next to the monastery of the former city lord. The monastery consisted of three gates, a main, a middle and a front gate. In between there were connecting walls, side towers, a moat and a drawbridge. During the Thirty Years War in 1633, the city gate was destroyed and only rebuilt in 1660, albeit without the distinctive main tower. The demolition work started in 1810 lasted for several years. Symbolism also played a role here: the monastery gate was the first city gate to fall because it was a symbol of the separation of the two cities of Kempten. With its demolition, the association should be symbolically supported. Today, a house plaque and a memorial with reliefs of the city gates at the former location of the gate in the pedestrian zone remind of the property (the reliefs were previously attached to the staircase in the Klostersteige and were removed when it was last redesigned). To the east of the monastery gate stood the Malzmühlturm. There were several small passages to the river between him and the Illertor.
Ankertörle
The Ankertörle is the only surviving city wall passage from the Middle Ages in Kempten, but in the form of the 18th century. It was also called Lochtörle because of the originally small inlet . The battlements above the gate have been preserved.
Towers
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In addition to the gate towers, the system was secured by other towers, e.g. B. the Rieggerturm , the Diebsturm , the Heidenturm , the Malzmühlturm and the still preserved powder tower .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Alexander Duke of Württemberg: Monuments in Bavaria . City of Kempten: ensembles - architectural monuments - archaeological site monuments. tape VII.85 , ISBN 3-7954-1003-7 , pp. 10 .
- ^ Joachim Zeune: Allgäu Castle Region. The castle guide. 2008, pp. 70-75
- ↑ City fortifications at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation
- ^ Allgäuer Zeitung : New shine for old city walls. August 27, 2009.
- ↑ Buildings and projects. In: msw-architekten.de (accessed on January 31, 2013)
- ↑ a b c Sepp Zwerch: Kempten back then . 1st edition. Tobias Dannheimer publishing house, Kempten (Allgäu) 1982, ISBN 3-88881-000-0 .
- ↑ Franz-Rasso Böck , Ralf Lienert , Joachim Weigel: Century views of Kempten 1900-2000 . 1st edition. Tobias Dannheimer publishing house, Kempten 1999, ISBN 3-88881-035-3 .
literature
- Willi Kaiser: Kempten's medieval city fortifications. In: Allgäuer Geschichtsfreund, New Series No. 10 (1914), pp. 1-44.
- Birgit Kata et al. (Ed.): More than 1000 years: The Kempten Abbey between founding and closing 752–1802. Allgäu research on archeology and history , No. 1. Likias, Kempten 2006, ISBN 3-980-76286-6 .
Manor houses and castles:
Princely residence | Schlößle | Hood lock | Fürstenhof | Ponikauhaus | Lenzfried Castle | Weidachschlößle | Rotschlößle
Castles and ruins: Burghalde (removed) | Eggen Castle (unknown location, gone) | Grünschlößle (exited) | Haßberg Castle (exited) | Hildegardsburg (departed) | Lützelburg (departed) | Kalbsangst Castle (departed) | Kniebos Castle (exited) | Schlösschen Letten (exited) | Schachenmeyersches Landgut (sold) | Schlossberg Castle near Elmatried (dismissed) | Tiefenbacher Ösch Castle (dismissed) | Schwarzenburg Castle near Öschberg (removed)
Fortresses: city fortifications