The Ponttor in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, (known in the 17th and 18th centuries as the ''Brückenpforte'' or ''Brückenthor'') is one of the two remaining

gates Gates is the plural of gate, a point of entry to a space which is enclosed by walls. It may also refer to: People * Gates (surname), various people with the last name * Gates Brown (1939-2013), American Major League Baseball player * Gates McFadde ...

of the original city wall of Aachen (the other being the Marschiertor). The westernmost of the north-facing gates (the other being the ''Sandkaultor'', which no longer exists), the Ponttor was built in the 14th century and manned by soldiers and militia throughout the

Free Imperial City of Aachen The Free Imperial City of Aachen, also known in English by its French name of Aix-la-Chapelle and today known simply as Aachen, was a Free Imperial City and spa of the Holy Roman Empire west of Cologne and southeast of the Low Countries, in the L ...

era. Today, the Ponttor is used by German Youth and

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

groups belonging to the German Scout Club (1945) and the German Scout Association Saint George.

Structure

The Ponttor was constructed as a right-angled three-stock tower castle. In the main entrance, there is a

Portcullis A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down gr ...

as well as a

machicolation A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...

, through which things could be dropped on invading forces. A bridge passage with

crenelations A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

spanned a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

and was strengthened in the foregate with two reinforced towers (

barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

s). The building material was

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, Pennsylvanian carbonite sandstone and

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

, with the framing material made of light

bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge) * felds ...

.Roland Walter: Aachener Georouten. Grenzecho-Verlag, 2011, Eupen, S. 130-132,

Explanation of the name

Though it is true that Aachen has many rivers and streams that pass through it, none are in the vicinity of the Ponttor, the name for which is assumed to come from the Latin word "pons", meaning bridge. However, before the gate was named, the area of the city (as well as the area's main street) already carried this appellation, and thus the city gate is simply named for the area around it. The neighborhood received the name because of a bridge, as during

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

times, a fortification existed on what is today known as the Annuntiaten stream. Beyond this area lay extensive swamps, and to exit the settlement, one would have to cross a bridge. Later settlements that were built in the area beyond the fortification were said to be beyond the bridge, and from this, the area, street, and city gate all got their names. Ponttor, Aachen, DE (DSCF5900).jpg, Inner city side (south) File:Ponttor,_Aachen_V.jpg, Outer city side (north) File:Ponttor,_Aachen_VI.jpg, View from the east File:Ponttor,_Aachen_VII.jpg, Forecastle, view from the east File:Ponttor,_Aachen_XI.jpg, approach along the former wall in the south east

Works cited

* *
Online-Version, pdf, 6.61MB
.

References

External links

{{Coord, 50, 46, 53.50, N, 06, 04, 42, E, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 14th century Aachen Buildings and structures in Aachen Landmarks in Germany