The Talburgtor, also called ''Talbrucktor'', was one of the five

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

s built in the late 12th century, as first

city walls 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 ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. The Talburgtor was also called ''Unteres Tor'' (Lower Gate), ''Taltor'' or ''Rathausturm'' (Town Hall Tower). It was located in the east of the old town on the site where the town hall tower still stands today on the south side of the

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

History

The gate was first mentioned in 1301 under the name porta inferior (Lower Gate) in correspondence to it lying west of the city ''Oberes Tor'' (Upper Gate) or '' Kaufingertor''. Through these two gates, the salt road led through Munich to the west. Since the ''Kaufingertor'' was already referred to as ''Oberes Tor'' in 1239, it can be assumed that its counterpart, the ''Unteres Tor'', existed at that time as well. The Talburgtor was a simple tower with gate passage. From 1392–94, the gate was redesigned as a city hall tower, and in 1460 it was destroyed along with the Old Town Hall, by a lightning strike. From 1470 to 1480, Jörg von Halspach built the Old Town Hall with town hall tower in late

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

again parallel to the construction of the '' Frauenkirche''. In this version, the tower is also depicted on the oldest Munich cityscape in the

Nuremberg Chronicle The ''Nuremberg Chronicle'' is an illustrated encyclopedia consisting of world historical accounts, as well as accounts told through biblical paraphrase. Subjects include human history in relation to the Bible, illustrated mythological creatures, ...

of 1493. In the 16th century, the façade was frescoed and the tower received 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 ...

. Therefore, the tower depicted the city model of Munich as shown in 1570 by Jakob Sandtner. In the 19th century the tower received a neo gothic pointed helmet. In 1944 the tower was heavily damaged by bombs and later demolished. In 1972 it was rebuilt in late Gothic style, as it was built by Halspach.

Miscellaneous

The Town Hall Tower today houses the Toy Museum. Away from the town hall tower, on the outside wall of the Old Town Hall, stands a statue of

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist R ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, a present from the Munich twin city Verona.

References

{{coord missing, Bavaria Buildings and structures in Munich Historicist architecture in Munich Tourist attractions in Munich Heritage sites in Bavaria Culture in Munich Clock towers Towers in Germany