Brick Gate (Amberg)
The brick gate (Amberg) is a city gate to the northeast of the Upper Palatinate city of Amberg . Its name is due to the fact that there used to be an urban brickworks in front of the gate (beyond today's railroad tracks) ; Magdeburger Strasse (now “Ziegelgasse”) used to run through the gate.
history
The Gothic gate was built in the 14th century. Under Elector Ludwig VI. Another three storeys were added to the tower in 1581 .
The two flank towers behind it also date from the 14th century. In the 18th century, they were converted into battery towers and provided with a ring of shooting holes. During the renovation in 1581, a trapezoidal forework with a gun platform was built beyond the city moat , which no longer exists today.
Construction
The brick gate consists of a mighty gate tower . In contrast to the other Amberg gates, it is not in the middle of the defensive wall , but in the kennel in front of it . Due to the earlier course of the street, the tower was not built parallel to the city wall, but slightly rotated. The battlement therefore does not run through the tower as with the other Amberg city gates, but is located behind the tower. Since the moat was not filled in here, the tower appears particularly defensive. The two associated semicircular side towers are behind the gate tower in the defensive wall.
The gate tower is 22 m high to the eaves , and even 29 m to the top of the pyramid roof . It is built in a rectangular shape, with its broad side pointing towards potential attackers. In the plastered substructure there is a bevelled ogival gate, which above still shows the openings for the ropes of the drawbridge . Under the gateway there is a basement, which is no longer accessible today and which used to be a prison. In 1529, the entire Amberg blacksmith's guild was locked up here for two days because of rioting. The upper three storeys are faced with rustic ashlars. They have rectangular shooting openings with wide and outwardly rounded borders. On the outer facade is a coat of arms with the Palatinate lion and underneath "Der Statt Amberg coat of arms". On the back, the covered walkway of the city wall runs above a segment arch . The tower was also only accessible via this one. Windows are built into the center of the rear. The gate hinges and the remains of earlier locking devices are still present in the gate passage.
The gate tower is accompanied by two semicircular flank towers, which are connected to the gate tower by short walls. Both date from the 14th century. Since the renovation in 1581, these towers have been used as stair towers. In the western tower, a stirrup notch from the Hussite period with an outwardly narrowed reveal and a lowered sole has been preserved. On its back there is still the bounce block for hanging hook boxes . In 1888 these towers were repaired again and in 1904 the associated bridge was also renewed. The two pedestrian passages were excavated at the beginning of the 20th century. The tower has been the seat of KSJ Amberg since November 1954 . The tower was renovated and in 2011 the garden of the east tower and the associated cellar were prepared.
literature
- Mathias Conrad: The brick gate. In: amberg information , December 2001, pp. 33-37.
- Johannes Laschinger: Amberg: Small city history (Small city stories). Verlag Friedrich Pustet , Regensburg 2015.
Web links
- Entry on brick gate in Amberg, city gate in the private database "Alle Burgen".
- Brick gate on Amberg cultural tourism, accessed on August 16, 2020.
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 26 '52.7 " N , 11 ° 51' 29.8" E