Wienertor
The Wienertor , also called Wiener Tor , is part of the city fortifications of Hainburg an der Donau .
Building history
The Wienertor goes back primarily to two major construction phases in the 13th century, in which a highly representative double tower gate was built and then monumentally built over. The double tower gate was already integrated into one of the kennels presented to the city wall. His building type refers as well as the dossierte base, the portcullis and taller than a man "loopholes" on suggestions by French fortification architecture. The stone of the ashlar or humpback ashlar shells are at least partially made from Roman spoils. Stonemason's marks are almost only found on the outer archway. Remnants of plastic waterstops on the edges of the humpback cuboid of the southern porch provide a highly interesting idea of the wall design from the construction period. In the vaulted space north of the passage, ashlar painting has been preserved under younger whitewash. Two portcullis could be operated from the first floor, but the longbow loops, which looked very threatening from the outside, were not set up for actual use.
Since the strong intermediate walls of the through floor apparently do not continue on the first floor, a uniform eaves height of the double tower gate can be assumed. An early construction in the last years of Duke Leopold VI's reign seems possible (and very tempting) . However, some findings support a later construction period and so the dating - around 1225/65 - is initially rather imprecise. A remnant of quarry stone masonry included on the south side may belong to a previous building, or at least to an older construction phase.
The early Gothic overbuilding of the double tower gate is due to the wall technology in the second half of the 13th century. It comprised two defensive floors and a final, probably roofed defensive floor with battlements. If the dendrochronologically dated beams from this construction phase are not used again, it was King-Duke Ottokar who had the renovation carried out around 1265. A first and particularly spectacular planning variant is indicated by two ashlars of console constructions used on the semicircular porches. They prove that the double tower gate should initially have a rectangular structure. Static difficulties or concerns would then have led to the fact that only the pointed arch construction between the stems was implemented. On the city side, where the large niche of the portcullis had to be adapted, the first floor was given a profiled bi-porous window. Two further bi-porous windows were built into the second floor, also facing the city. On the field side, three more than man-high arched loops stand out. Portals to the battlements of the city wall are missing, but at least the battlements on the mountain side could be seen through a small stone window. The third floor offered the best defense options. Here, on the one hand, the large shaft created by the overbuilding of the doorway opened, from which stones and other heavy objects could be dropped in order to fight attacks on the gate and portcullis. On the other hand, there was a wooden walkway on the field side. The exit portal, some beams or their imprints as well as two consoles of the roof approach remained from him; a bar was felled in the winter of 1265/66. On the south side there are remains of a toilet dungeon and a stone channel built into the center of the wall. Exactly opposite a walled stone channel can also be found on the Danube side. It makes sense to see a connection with the drainage from inwardly sloping roof surfaces, which meant that the floor could be supplied with usable water at the same time. With the exception of the east side and the area around the key notch, the battlements that conclude the gate have been preserved throughout the structure. Less impressive - but easily comparable - is the early Gothic extension of the Ungartore on the other side of the city. Here, too, it was probably Ottokar who had a predominantly representative gate building redesigned to make it defensive. If the timbers of the Wienertore are used again, from a historical and architectural point of view, the years around 1280 should be considered as a possible time when the gates were reinforced.
The two early Gothic "knight sculptures", which were subsequently incorporated into the humpback square shells on the side above the passage, were probably made around 1260/90. Its unique position in the architecture of the duchy deserves a more detailed art-historical investigation. The question of its original position and its relationship to the construction phases of the 13th century is also unresolved.
In the late 15th or 16th century, the battlements of the Wienertore were massively reinforced in order to be able to put on a new, more monumental roof structure. The simultaneous adaptation of the walls included a key notch on the field side and a secure fireplace. Instead of the broken walkway, six stone balls were placed in the outer shell of the gate, which certainly had an apotropaic effect. The brick gate fence is no longer preserved. If it corresponded to that of the Hungarian Gate, it went back to the years around 1520/30 at the latest.
The current roof structure of the Wienertor could be dendrochronologically dated to the years 1734/36. A repair of the southern part that took place as early as 1736 is most likely to be associated with the firing of a cannon in the attic. The floor divisions were renewed in the 1760s and received beams. A cable winch was used to pull loads from the gate hall to the top floor. The portcullis should also come from this time. Remnants of inscriptions indicate that the upper floors of the gate were used as an armory in the 18th century .
literature
- Richard Kurt Donin: The art monuments of the city of Hainburg. Publishing house for regional studies of Lower Austria, Vienna 1931.
- Friedrich Karches : The fortifications of the city of Hainburg on the Danube. Hainburg 1978.
- Joseph Maurer: History of the princely city of Hainburg. 1881. New edition 2008.
Web links
- Building history of the Wienertor
- Entry for Wienertor in the database of the state's memory for the history of the state of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )
Coordinates: 48 ° 8 '44.82 " N , 16 ° 56' 19.54" O