City glasses
The Stadtbrille is a late medieval water gate in Amberg that spans the Vils over a length of 46 m.
history
The establishment of the Stadtbrille cannot be precisely dated, it was probably built in the period from the second half of the 14th century to the first half of the 15th century. It is mentioned for the first time in 1454 as "passage across the Vils". At that time, the citizens of Amberg had to cede this gate with the two adjacent towers to Elector Friedrich , after they had initially refused to pay homage in the so-called Amberg uprising . The elector then had the electoral palace expanded into a fortress; the western gate of the water gate was walled up, the vilsbett narrowed and a defensive wall was built. The western yoke was included in the palace construction and used for residential and commercial purposes. At that time the water gate was single-storey and had towers above the two central pillars. These are still evident today in the floor plan of the Stadtbrille in the form of pentagonal rooms. In 1580 the water gate was raised by one floor, with the middle yoke receiving an additional storey with gables on the eaves and the two pillars receiving bay-like structures (so-called Welsche hoods ). This work was carried out under the direction of the electoral court stone mason Hans Hauck. In 1698 the tower superstructures and the third floor were demolished due to disrepair and the city goggles got their current appearance.
Construction
The water gate is 16 m high and spans the Vils leading through Amberg with two arches. The third arch is open again today and serves as a footpath across the former moat. The span of an arch is approx. 10 m; the piers tapering towards the front form the abutments. Earlier were on the earlier-developed tower-like pillar portcullis be moved with which the flow was shut off.
The first floor above the arches served primarily as a connecting passage between the Electoral Palace and the adjoining armory. Here there are partly elongated rooms that alternate with pentagonal ones above the pillars. The ogival through openings have bevelled edges.
The second floor above it and separated by a belt cornice was a defensive floor, as the round opening for wall rifles testify to . Their reveals are stepped, which should protect against ricochets. The two staggered rectangular openings in the left yoke were presumably access points to the wooden separating core . This is separated from the basement in the eastern part by clay wrapped ceilings from the construction period of 1580, in the western part beam and plank ceilings from a later period have been inserted. At the eastern end a narrow portal leads into the pinnacle tower.
The first floor is made of quarry stone, the defensive floor above is made of exposed brickwork made of hewn sandstone blocks. In the plastered basement, stone-sightedness is simulated by cuboid lines on the plaster . The stone work is ocher and painted with white joints. Powder for the electoral armory was stored in the crenellated tower from 1454, which was placed across the corner in the east. The Vils passage is flanked on the castle side by a defensive wall with superimposed T-slots .
The through floor is now used for exhibitions. It is generally about the District Office, i. H. the Electoral Palace, accessible.
literature
- Mathias Conrad: The Amberg city glasses. In: amberg information , March 2001, pp. 33-37.
Web links
- Stadtbrille auf Stadt Amberg-Kultourismus, accessed on August 14, 2020.
- City glasses Amberg on Bavaria on the web, accessed on August 14, 2020.
Coordinates: 49 ° 26 ′ 34.1 ″ N , 11 ° 51 ′ 26.5 ″ E