Gate lock (Lübeck)

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The gate lock , the nightly closing of all city ​​gates , was in force in Lübeck until 1864.

history

Since the early days of Lübeck , the four city gates - Holstentor , Burgtor , Hüxtertor and Mühlentor -, which were the only entrances to the island-like area of ​​today's old town , were closed at dusk and only opened again at dawn the following day. In this way, at least in theory, it was ensured that no one was able to enter or leave the city unnoticed under cover of darkness. This was intended to prevent the nightly smuggling of goods subject to excise duty as well as the secret intrusion of undesired persons. Controlled passage of the city gates was possible within certain limits even after the gate had been blocked: By paying the blocking fee, a fixed fee that had to be paid to the gate guards, late arrivals were able to get into the city until midnight .

In the 18th century the nocturnal passage fees for periods of time and the nature have been divided in the means of transport, where pedestrian paid the lowest rate and with three or more horses hauled carts the highest. Small children carried in their arms passed the gates free of charge. In the winter months, the first period of the gate closure began with the closing of the gates at 4:30 p.m., the second at 9 p.m. and the third at 11 p.m. Entry was still not permitted after midnight. During the summer, the sections lasted from 10pm to 11pm and from 11pm to midnight. The later the period, the higher the blocking money; a rider had to pay 4 Lübsche Schillings in the first section , 6 in the second and 8 in the third. The beginning of each period was announced in advance by drum beats and put into effect by the ringing of the hour bell of St. Mary's . The higher fee for the new section was only allowed to be levied on the last stroke of the bell.

In the course of the French annexation of Lübeck in 1811, the gate lock was lifted, but reintroduced when sovereignty was regained in 1813. It remained in place in the following decades, but increasingly became the subject of criticism, which increased considerably after the first Lübeck train station opened in 1851 on the Wall Peninsula , and thus outside the gates . The fact that travelers who arrived on the last trains of the day found themselves in front of closed city gates and were forced to pay a fee if they wanted to go to their accommodation in the city was viewed as an embarrassing anachronism far beyond Lübeck . In addition, the gate lock noticeably inhibited the development of the suburbs and the slow onset of industrialization of Lübeck due to its sensitive restriction of delivery traffic , which was now supposed to take place around the clock, and the daily mobility of the workforce in both directions. It had already been recognized that the gate barrier no longer fulfilled its original main purpose, the nighttime protection of the citizens who were fully assembled within a clearly delimited area from dangerous strangers, as a steadily growing number of Lübeck residents inhabited the slowly emerging suburbs.

It was not until May 1, 1864, that the gates were finally lifted by a resolution of the Senate and the nocturnal isolation of the inner city, which had been practiced since the Middle Ages, was abolished. However, the excise duty on the import of a number of goods into the old town was still levied until December 31, 1874.

See also

literature