The Graach Gate (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Graacher Tor'') is the last remaining

town gate A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of the

town of

Bernkastel-Kues Bernkastel-Kues () is a town on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a well-known winegrowing centre. The town is a state-recognized health resort (''Erholungsort''), seat of the ''Ver ...

. The name ''Graach'' refers to the neighbouring village of Graach connected by a narrow road to the gate. Currently the building is used as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

of local history.

History of the city gate

The Graach gate was built in 1300 as part of a

town wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

protecting the town of Bernkastel against foreign aggression. In 1689 it was partly destroyed by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

troops under

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

. At the beginning of the 18th century the gate was reconstructed and from 1714 was used as a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. Later on it became a hostel for the homeless. Since 2002 the gate has been a museum of local history.

Architecture

The gate has an integrated passage built in a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

created in the 18th century. Before destruction in 1689 the Graach gate, shown in a drawing dated 1590, was equipped with a tower reaching three times the size of the current building. After reconstruction in the 18th century the gate shows typical elements of a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

-style building. A figure of the Archangel St. Michael is placed centrally over the passage protecting the inhabitants of Bernkastel from aggression by intruders. The figure is a copy while the original is exhibited in the museum of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

External links

Bernkastel-Kues / Bernkastel Graacher Tor (1)
{{coord, 49, 54, 58, N, 7, 04, 34, E, region:DE-RP_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1300 Gates in Germany Buildings and structures in Bernkastel-Wittlich Landmarks in Germany