>> The Sterntor, a reminiscence to Bonn’s old city forticication

The Sterntor, which is a romantic fantasy building of the rest of the old city wall, is the only place which reminds of the monumentality of Bonn’s medieval city fortification.

Unfortunately, the city planners of the late 19th century regarded this last part of the city fortification of the 13th century as an obstacle in terms of traffic engineering, so that it was pulled down in 1898 after a resolution of the municipal council. There is only a little rest of the city fortification left now, which was originally erected around 1245. The remains of the Sterntor were re-established at another place next to an old half tower.

Right next to it is a gate construction from 1900, into which the outer archway of the old Sterntor was inserted. It displays two portraits: Christ crucified with Maria and Johannes (late Gothic) and the Mother of God with “seven pains” (1650).

Most of all the reconstruction suffered from the details and the construction as a whole. This is why the demolition is regarded as more than regrettable, which is also due to the fact that the “old” Sterntor is one of the city’s oldest profane monuments and at the same time one of the most important architectural monuments of the fortification art of the 13th century.

Sterntor
Bottlerplatz /Vivatsgasse

Source: Tourismus&Congress GmbH Region Bonn/Rhein-Sieg/Ahrweiler