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The Schwabentor (English Swabian Gate), also called Obertor in the Middle Ages, is the more recent of the two remaining city gates of the medieval defensive wall of
Risse im Schwabentor – Sanierung dauert bis Ende 2013
Badische Zeitung
The Schwabentor (English Swabian Gate), also called Obertor in the Middle Ages, is the more recent of the two remaining city gates of the medieval defensive wall of Freiburg im Breisgau
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...
in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, Germany.
History
The gate tower built around 1250 was originally open towards the inside of the city and was only enclosed with a stone wall in 1547. In 1572, a stair turret was added; in the same year Matthias Schwäri painted a picture of a merchant with a cart on the inner wall. In the 19th century, this picture sparked a legend about a Swabian man who came to Freiburg with two barrels full of gold to buy the town. He was ridiculed, especially after it turned out that the barrels only contained sand and pebbles. Before his departure, his wife had secretly replaced the gold with a worthless filling. Until 1900 the Schwabentor remained mostly unchanged. Then it was almost doubled in height according to the design of Carl Schäfer and equipped with acrow-stepped gable
A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a ...
modelled on city towers of Northern Germany. In 1903 Fritz Geiges added a painting of Freiburg’s city patron, aint George
The word "ain't" is a Contraction (grammar), contraction for ''am not'', ''is not'', ''are not'', ''has not'', ''have not'' in the common English language vernacular. In some dialects ''ain't'' is also used as a contraction of ''do not'', ''does ...
depicted as a dragon hunter on the exterior. The conversions ended in 1913 with the building of historicized annexes. The conversion was partially undone in 1954, and the Schwabentor was provided with a simpler tented roof
A tented roof (also known as a pavilion roof) is a type of polygonal hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak. W. Dean EastmanHometown Handbook: Architecture./ref> Tented roofs, a hallmark of medieval religious architecture, wer ...
, which was similar to the original one, and a bell turret with an onion dome
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point.
It is a ty ...
.
The keystone of the inner arch shows a Romanesque depiction of the "Boy with Thorn
''Boy with Thorn'', also called ''Fedele'' (Fedelino) or ''Spinario'', is a Greco-Roman Hellenistic bronze sculpture of a boy withdrawing a thorn from the sole of his foot, now in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome. There is a Roman marble ver ...
", an antique
An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...
figurine, which is interpreted in a Christian way here, meaning that man walks the earth with the thorn of the Original sin
Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...
within him. Whoever passes through the gate should be reminded of it.
Next to the gate there is a square, which is unofficially called Platz der letzten Barrikade von 1848 (English "Square of the Last Barricade of 1848"). On Easter Monday of 1848, an association of independent, military volunteers of Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...
was defeated by the superior government troops of the Grand Duke of Baden
The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.
It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subse ...
.
The Schwabentor is being renovated since summer 2012 and is to be finished in November 2013. After removing the plaster it became apparent that the damages were more severe than anticipated. The previous extension of the tower produced fissures in the walls, and the foundation has to be reinforced because it isn't stable enough. To examine this, exploratory drillings were scheduled for April 2013.Badische Zeitung
Traffic
The Schwabentor is located on the border of the pedestrian area of the city centre and usually only one line of Freiburg’s tram's goes through it heading outside of the town. The annex on the north side is reserved for the tram, bikers, taxis, delivery traffic and inhabitants of the city centre heading downtown. All other traffic is led past its right hand side.Museum
Since 1969 there is a small, private museum, named the Zinnfigurenklause (German ''Zinnfigur'' is a tin figure) in the Schwabentor. Different scenes of the region's history are depicted in the museum, with the help of about 9,000 tin figures inDiorama
A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...
s, mostly from the freedom movements in the South of Germany (Battle of Sempach
The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the lo ...
, peasant revolts
This is a chronological list of conflicts in which peasants played a significant role.
Background
The history of peasant wars spans over two thousand years. A variety of factors fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon, including:
...
, Revolution of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
in Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...
), but also from the time of the Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
.
Literature
* Peter Kalchthaler: ''Freiburg und seine Bauten. Ein kunsthistorischer Stadtrundgang.'' Revised 4th edition, Promo-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau), 2006, , No. 41: Schwabentor.References