Ulrepforte

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Cologne Ulrepforte, in front the caponniere, behind it the two half towers, in between the arch of the original gate and the mill tower
Pillar of the mill circumference
Keystone (1756) above the main entrance

The Ulrepforte (Kölsch Ülepooz ) was built in the early 13th century as part of the medieval city wall of Cologne . It was first mentioned in a document in 1245. The Ulrepforte has been preserved with major structural changes. In front of her, the Sachsenring road passes as part of the Cologne rings .

With a width of four meters, the Ulrepforte was the smallest of the landside city ​​gates . Since there was no country road on the field side, the gate will probably not have had any significance for traffic.

Today the Ulrepforte is known as the tram stop for lines 15 and 16.

designation

The name goes back to the "Ulner" (also Üler, Euler = potters ) who worked here in the Middle Ages and who had to practice their craft in uninhabited areas due to the risk of fire. This area was used for gardening or farming until the beginning of the 19th century.

Building history

The first earthworks (ditches, ramparts) for the city fortifications planned in a semicircle around the city began in 1179, and on July 27, 1180, the Archbishop of Cologne, Philipp von Heinsberg, gave permission for this. The wall was built from 1200, and the 16 gates were built between 1220 and 1250. According to the later state curator Udo Mainzer , the Ulrepforte was one of the first gates to be completed around 1230. In 1245 a city gate is mentioned for the first time at this point in the shrine book of the parish of St. Severin.

The Ulrepforte was designed as a double tower gate with a multi-storey central building with a passage. In the reports on the reconciliation of Archbishop Engelbert von Falkenburg and the city of Cologne in 1271, this city gate is first referred to as the Ulrepforte. The gate was flanked by two semi-circular towers that were open to the city. The half towers served both to stabilize the wall and for military purposes. They enabled the defenders to shoot from a protected position in front of the city wall, parallel to it. The Ulretor was about 4 meters wide and thus had the narrowest passage of all Cologne city gates. Around 1450 the gate was walled up and the two gates and the tower were converted into a "Carthusian windmill". For this purpose - first mentioned in 1446 - a 23.50 meter high mill tower was added to and on top of the northern half-tower on the city side. The surrounding mill passage is supported by eight cross vaults , similar to the Gereonsmühle . On the field side, this required the wall to be raised by one meter, which is still clearly visible today.

A two-storey rectangular caponiere was placed in front of the gate - probably in the 15th century .

The Carthusian Mill (from: CF Kaiser, Cölner Thorburgen and fortifications: 1180–1882, 1883, sheet 10)

The entrepreneur Franz Carl Guilleaume acquired the Ulrepforte and Kartäusermühle from the city of Cologne in 1885, had them restored by Vincenz Statz in 1886 and opened a restaurant on June 11, 1886 (Sachsenring No. 42) on an area of ​​769 m 2 , of which 506 m 2 fortress, 186 m 2 belonged to the Carthusian mill and 77 m 2 to the residential building. Guilleaume, who produced and also lived nearby, had the 20 meter high tower with a caponniere converted into a wine bar. The Caponniere was used as a wine cellar and built over with guest rooms. The tower received a viewing room with a surrounding wooden gallery. The earlier conical roof was replaced by a gothic pointed hood. In 1907 the building was given to the city as a gift from Antoinette von Guilleaume. After the Second World War , the "Kölsche Funke rut-wieß vun 1823 eV" leased the Ulrepforte.

Due to their initiative, the building was cleared from September 24, 1955, and after the inauguration on September 30, 1956, the association's headquarters. Since then it has been extensively restored and maintained by the Rote Funken and with the help of the "Association of Friends and Supporters of the Ühlepooz 'Fritz Everhan Foundation' eV". In 2007 the roof was re-covered with Moselle slate in old German roofing.

The Carthusian Mill takes its name from the nearby Carthusian monastery. The mill was only built after the city wall had been completed, around the year 1400. It was first mentioned in 1446. During the restoration by Vincenz Statz in 1885/86, it was given an attachment with a helmet-covered viewing gallery. After it was destroyed in the war, the Carponnière was freed from the restaurant in order to be able to bring the entire complex to its best advantage.

Battle of the Ulrepforte

Battle of the Ulrepforte (painting by Gustave Buschmann & Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman , 1841)

On January 10, 1268, the Overstolzen were sitting at the table in the Parfusenhof (today: Auf dem Berlich 2) when they were surprisingly attacked by the patricians of the Wise men (Wysen; Mühlengasse) - whose family member Ludwig Weise is mayor. The wise men had actually targeted the owner of the Parfusenhof, Count Wilhelm IV , but he was able to escape secretly. The Overstolzen, in turn, were able to flee to the Mechtern monastery in time, while the “people's heap” set the Parfusenhof on fire. The Koelhoffsche Chronicle reports on this that the Count of Jülich during a banquet a stop of the Elders escaped by fleeing "and he held out of Cologne Mechtern at the Novodevichy Convent," where he pitched his camp. The Overstolzen quickly put together their own troop of around 300 men, which took up a bloody fight against the wise men at "Haus Heuberg" (Duffesbach). The troops also included members of the patrician families Bruno Scherfgin, Kleingedank and Heinrich Hardevust. Mayor Weise met knight Mathias Overstolz hard and was slain in the fight by Rütger Overstolz and Heinrich von Crane. As a result, the wise men had to leave the city, fled to Bonn and from there planned a new attempt to win back the regiment in Cologne. This is the starting point for the battle of the Ulrepforte.

The wise men had chosen the well-secured Ulrepforte as their place of penetration into Cologne. They succeeded in persuading a man named Konrad Havenith, who lived at Ulrichtstor, for 25 marks to dig a tunnel undetected under the city wall through which the wise men and their troops of 300 men could penetrate into the city. The wise men were also able to win Duke Walram of Limburg , Count Dietrich of Kleve and Archbishop Engelbert von Falkenburg from Cologne, who also fled , for their project . In the event of victory, these three wanted to divide the city among themselves. According to the city clerk Gottfried Hagen in his rhyming chronicle of the city of Cologne , 5000 men invaded the city under Duke Adolf V von Berg . The intrusion of the warriors in the evening on October 14, 1268 was noticed and reported to the Overstolz. At the head of Mathias Overstolz it was possible in a hurry to summon only about 40 men. The inferior Overstolz team suddenly received support from others who had rushed to Cologne, but they could not prevent Mathias Overstolz's death. However, it was possible to either kill the intruders, run them away or take them prisoner (according to the Duke of Limburg on the morning of October 15, 1268).

This battle is depicted in the painting by the Flemish painters Gustave Buschmann (1818–1852) and Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman (1819–1888). The work - for a long time misinterpreted as a painting about the battle of Worringen - shows on the right side of the picture an aged, seriously injured man who was identified as Matthias Overstolz by his coat of arms. The young man on the right also bears the Overstolz coat of arms, it is probably Gottschalk, below him on the floor Costyn von der Aducht, one of the losers. The left side of the picture shows a supported man who must be either Walram von Limburg or Dietrich von Falkenburg, the brother of the Archbishop of Cologne; both bear the same coat of arms. The city wall in the background shows that the battle must have taken place within the city walls, so that for this reason alone the battle of Worringen is out of the question.

The victory in the "Night of the Holy Moors" preserved the city of Cologne its independence. This overcoming of the Cologne city wall should remain unique.

Preserved medieval city wall on Sachsenring

200 meters west of the Ulrepforte, another part of the medieval city wall with two defense towers has been preserved on the Sachsenring. As with the fragment at the Gereonsmühle , the construction of the city wall can be seen here. Even the moat in front of the wall is still there.

  • Cologne city wall on Sachsenring, northern defense tower and wall

  • Moat

  • North tower of the city wall

  • South tower of the city wall

In the east of the two defensive towers there are now the club rooms of the carnival society Blaue Funken , which, like the “Rote Funken”, refer to the former Cologne city soldiers. The Blue Sparks were founded in 1870. The Prinzen-Garde Köln 1906 eV has its seat in the western defense tower. Like the two above mentioned, this society has set itself the task of maintaining the remains of the city wall and preserving it as a memorial to the people of Cologne.

Monument relief

Monument to the battle of the Ulrepforte on the Cologne city wall at the Sachsenring

The memorial relief about this battle was inserted into the city wall described above in 1360 and has been attested for the first time since 1378. It is Cologne, possibly even Germany, oldest monument commemorating a historical event . The relief is signed in gold letters with: "Anno Domini MCCLXVIII up the holy more naicht do wa here broken through de mure" (In 1268 on the night of St. Moor (St. Gregorius Maurus, October 15) was here through the wall broken [a breach ] by the patrician dynasty of the wise ). The original has been on view in the Cologne City Museum since 1983 . A copy is on the field side next to the northern tower. The preservation of this part of Cologne's city wall is probably due to the monument .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Fuchs (ed.), Chronik zur Geschichte der Stadt Köln , Volume 1, 1991, p. 164
  2. ↑ Monumenta Germaniae Historica , Scriptores, Vol. 16, p. 743.
  3. ↑ Udo Mainzer, Stadttore im Rheinland , ed .: Rheinischer Verein für Denkmalpflege und Landschaftsschutz eV, yearbook 1975
  4. ↑ Walther Zimmermann, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Rheinlands , Volume 23, 1978, p. 35
  5. ↑ Heinz-Günther Hunold, Vom Stadtsoldaten zum Roten Funken , 2005, p. 81 ff.
  6. ↑ Hans Vogts, The profane monuments of the city of Cologne , 1930, p. 95
  7. ↑ Günther Binding , Guide to Early and Prehistoric Monuments , Cologne, Volume 39, 1980, p. 71
  8. ↑ Ludwig Ettmüller : From the "Cronica der hilliger stat van Cöllen" , 1847, p. 62
  9. ↑ Peter Fuchs (Ed.), Chronicle of the History of the City of Cologne , Volume 1, 1991, p. 221 f.
  10. ^ Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine , 1855, p. 218 ff.

literature

  • The art monuments of the city of Cologne. , Volume Two, Section IV, The Profane Monuments. ; Ed .: Paul Clemen, 1930

media

  • Rheinhard Zeese: 1900 years of fortified Cologne , CD, LEB - Brühl, 2006

Web links

Commons : Ulrepforte und Kartäuser-Mühle, Cologne  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 55 '31.3 "  N , 6 ° 57' 2.3"  E