Waterloo Gate
watercolor pencil drawing by Friedrich Gottlieb Müller , around 1865
The Waterloo Gate is a war memorial in Osnabrück that commemorates the Battle of Waterloo . The Waterloo Gate with its surrounding area is known in Osnabrück as the Heger Gate , the name "Waterloo Gate" is rarely used locally.
history
On June 18, 1815, many Osnabrück soldiers took part in the battle of Waterloo under British command as members of the Osnabrück Landwehr Battalion, the Osnabrück Light Field Battalion and the King's German Legion . In honor of these fighting fellow citizens, the Osnabrück citizen Gerhard Friedrich von Gülich donated 1,000 thalers for a memorial in 1816.
The Waterloo Gate was designed by route inspector Johann Christian Sieckmann (1787–1861) on behalf of Gülich and built in 1817 on the Heger-Tor-Wall.
Its appearance is reminiscent of a triumphal arch and a fortification because parts of the large historical fortification "Heger Tor", which was demolished in 1815 and which consisted of a tower, gate, bastion, kennel and passage from the old town to the Heger Laischaft out of town , were included.
The actual Heger Tor stood further out of town in the Middle Ages, around 20 meters west of today's Waterloo Gate. This can be seen from the fact that the still existing Akzisehaus , which was located directly at the city gate, is today on the opposite side of the Wallring. In the Osnabrück vernacular, however, the old name "Heger Tor" has also become the name for the new Waterloo-Tor.
description
The Waterloo Gate is a triumphal gate and is modeled on the Arch of Titus in Rome.
In addition, building elements of contemporary classical gate structures, z. B. from the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, added.
The archway is framed on both sides by ionic , coupled columns on a base and stylobate . The architrave contains the capital inscription set in gold :
PROVEN MUTH OF GERMANS ON JUNE 18, 1815
DEDICATES THIS MONUMENT GFvGÜLICH DRD "(DRD = The Right Doctor, Gülich was Dr. jur. ).
The platform of the gate can be reached via the side ramp ramps and a staircase. On the eastern side you have a remarkable view of the medieval old town of Osnabrück, on the western side you can see the Museum of Cultural History , the Felix Nussbaum House , the Akzisehaus and the Stüve memorial in front of the Stüvehaus , today's Osnabrück adult education center .
For centuries, carts rolled through the old and new "Heger Tor" in the direction of Münster and Holland or came into the city from the west. The gate passage was closed to vehicle traffic in 1957 and became a pedestrian zone . Today behind the Heger Tor is the so-called “Heger-Tor-Viertel”, which is known and loved for its rustic restaurants and a popular meeting point for day and night owls. The ancient chestnut on the platform at Heger Tor was uprooted in a storm in November 1957. The newly planted trees were removed during the 2013 door renovation.
The facade of the Waterloo Gate, erected only out of town, has a double character when viewed, depending on which of the two sides you look at it from: From the old town side, the gate looks like an unadorned town gate from the time of the old Heger Gate, the medieval fortification. From the side of the Heger-Tor-Wall it can be seen as a classicist hero memorial. Two city worlds also show the variety in urban planning when you walk through the gate: From the noisy, modern Neustadt on the Heger-Tor-Wall, the triumphal arch leads into the tranquil, traffic-calmed old town.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.wikivoyage.org/de/Osnabr%C3%BCck
- ↑ Internet presence of the city of Osnabrück
- ↑ Travel Guide Osnabrück on belocal.de ( memento of the original from 23 August 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.osnabrueck.de/tourismus/wissens-und-sehenswerte/sehenswuerdheiten/heger-tor.html
Coordinates: 52 ° 16 ′ 34.8 " N , 8 ° 2 ′ 19.5" E