Sendlinger Tor, Medieval gate tower in Altstadt, Germany
Sendlinger Tor is a medieval gate of reddish-brown brick at the south end of Sendlinger Strasse. A large pointed archway, edged with stone, spans the road; on the left a lower wall section is covered in ivy. The tall square tower on the right has narrow recessed windows, a shallow dark pyramidal roof and a smaller rounded archway at street level.
The gate was built between 1285 and 1337 under Ludwig of Bavaria as part of the city's second defensive wall system. The side towers were added in 1420, changing the structure's appearance significantly.
The gate's name comes from the road to Sendling that once passed through it, and it long served as the starting point of the route to Italy. Today the Sendlinger Straße behind it is a pedestrian zone, completed in stages by 2019, and the gate gives its name to the Sendlinger-Tor-Platz in front of it.
The gate stands at Sendlinger-Tor-Platz, where Herzog-Wilhelm-Straße, Lindwurmstraße and Sonnenstraße meet; the U-Bahn station below is served by six U-Bahn and five tram lines. The road runs through the central arch, and a remnant of the old city wall is visible beside the gate, continuing up Herzog-Wilhelm-Straße. Sendlinger Straße beyond the gate has been a pedestrian zone since 2019.
The gate's central tower was demolished in 1808; the single large arch seen today was inserted in 1906 by Wilhelm Bertsch, who also cut passages with portals through the two flanking towers. A remnant of the old city wall is still visible beside the gate, running up Herzog-Wilhelm-Straße.
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