Lower Gate (Volkach)
The lower gate (also Gaibacher gate , Krakenturm ) is part of the city fortifications of Volkach . As the third tallest tower within the fortification, the gate is characteristic of the cityscape today and formerly led to the so-called lower suburb .
history
Element of fortification (up to around 1644)
The Volkach city fortifications probably have their origins as early as the 13th century, when Volkach slowly rose to become an urban community. However, before the construction of the elements that are still preserved today, there were several previous buildings, which were, however, at the same location. The first documented evidence of the Volkach fortification is the location of a field in front of the "upper gate" in 1328. An upper gate requires a lower counterpart , so that the two- gate city must have already existed at this time.
Unlike the Sommeracher Tor , the lower gate does not appear in the so-called Volkacher Salbuch by Niklas Brobst von Effelt . In the legal work, however, various parts of the city wall and its towers were drawn in imaginative representations. The lower gate may be seen on folio 413v. It was drawn with a half-timbered upper floor, a tent roof can be seen above a crenellated perimeter.
The drawing also shows how the so-called goalkeeper takes his oath of office in front of the mayor of the city of Volkach . The city established its own office to ensure that the population was protected from enemy attacks. The goalkeeper, called Hans Rüdiger Burckart in the Salbuch, guarded the gate during the day and kept the keys. His oath, however, included that the gates had to be opened at night in an emergency .
In the 16th century the old city wall, which had largely collapsed, began to be renewed. In 1573 the lower gate was first named with the nickname of the neighboring village Gaibach . The two gates had a special task, they had both a military function, the defense against enemies, as well as an economic one and controlled the movement of goods in and out of the city. That is why the city council invested a lot in the gates.
The lower gate was first renewed and received its distinctive dome in 1579. The two towers were given pitch rings and pitch pans to increase their defensive function. In addition, the gates were equipped with so-called front gate houses (also front works or kennel houses). The Vorwerk of the Gaibacher Tor began to grow from 1577/1578, the city invested 555 guilders in the shell. When it was completed in 1580, another 246 guilders were paid.
The gate was fortified again during the Thirty Years War in 1644, although the city fortifications began to lose their military function at that time. It could no longer withstand modern guns . Therefore, the advancing Croats and Swedes conquered Volkach in the first half of the 17th century without a fight. After the long war, the city council hardly had the means to take care of the gates and nothing was invested in the fortifications.
Decline and landmark (until today)
The fortification remained almost unchanged for another 200 years, although the lower gate tower was not transferred to any new use (the city prison was set up in the upper tower ). In 1714 only a high water mark was added . Only in the course of the great city fire of 1804, in which a large part of the Storchengassen district behind the Lower Gate was destroyed by flames, did the responsible persons begin to rethink.
Probably a short time after the fire, the Zeilitzheimer Tor was built a few meters in the southeast of the Lower Gate , through which extinguishing water could be transported into the city more quickly. Around the middle of the 19th century, the lower gate still had its outer works, which, however, presented an obstacle to the traffic that had grown in the meantime. In September 1870 the entrance hall was demolished, the stones had previously been auctioned off by the city .
In the second half of the 19th century, the demolition of the tower itself was also discussed. The Historical Association for Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg wrote in 1876 that the two towers had no "special historical interest" and supported their demolition. The Volkacher Wochenblatt argued against the tear in an article from 1875. It was feared that the disappearance of the towers would lead to "the town being made like a village ".
The demolition was finally prevented and by 1904 at the latest, those responsible were aware that the two characteristic city towers would be preserved. Growing tourism also contributed to this. Traffic was satisfied in 1930 with the demolition of the midwifery house attached to the tower. The tower is now classified as a monument . Underground remains of previous buildings are recorded as ground monuments. The Gaibacher Tor forms the northern beginning of the Volkach Old Town ensemble .
description
The lower gate on the historically less important road to Gaibach did not have a representative Renaissance gable like the upper gate. Instead, the rectangular tower ends with a slate-covered Welschen hood . The gate is about 15 m high and thus the third highest tower within the Volkach fortification. It has a total of six floors. The passage is arched. Only smaller rectangular windows on the upper floors let the building through. There are loopholes in the basement .
Two inscriptions have been preserved on the gate tower. One refers to the city council, which was responsible for the construction. In contrast to the Upper Gate, the coat of arms of the prince-bishops of Würzburg, who held the fortification sovereignty over Volkach, was not attached. The inscription reads: “Anno. 1579 / Valtin. Beickner / Christophel. Heldt / Bede. Mayor ”. On the left gate post at a height of about 130 cm there is also a high water mark with the following inscription: "On the 28th Hornung in 1714 the water was so high up to the line".
The Vorwerk of the Lower Gate disappeared completely in 1870. Only a preserved photograph gives an impression of the former entrance hall. Similar to the Vorwerk of the Upper Gate, two round corner towers with pointed helmets were built to the left and right of the arched gateway . The actual gatehouse was surmounted by a transverse structure, in which a passage was probably to be found. A coat of arms , perhaps one of the Würzburg prince-bishop, was affixed over the passage.
literature
- Gerhard Egert: City and Parish Volkach am Main (A contribution to the city history of Franconia). Part I. The urban territory from the beginnings to the end of the Old Kingdom in 1803. Diss . Volkach and Würzburg 1964.
- Gerhard Egert: From the villa (village) to the civitas (city) Volkach . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Volkach. 906-2006 . Volkach 2006. pp. 7-10.
- Herbert Meyer: Gate and towers in the old Volkach . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Volkach. 906-2006 . Volkach 2006. pp. 112-118.
- Günther Schmitt: House chronicle of the city of Volkach as a mirror of the bourgeoisie. From the end of the 17th century until today (= Volkacher Hefte vol. 19) . Volkach 2017.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: City and parish Volkach am Main . P. 64.
- ↑ Meyer, Herbert: Towers and gates in the old Volkach . P. 115 f.
- ↑ Egert, Gerhard: From the villa (village) to the civitas (city) Volkach . P. 9.
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: City and parish Volkach am Main . P. 65.
- ↑ Meyer, Herbert: Towers and gates in the old Volkach . P. 118.
- ↑ Schmitt, Günther: House chronicle of the city of Volkach . P. 130.
Coordinates: 49 ° 52 ′ 2.8 ″ N , 10 ° 13 ′ 30.9 ″ E