Stargarder Tor, Brick Gothic city gate in Neubrandenburg, Germany.
The Stargarder Tor is Neubrandenburg's southern city gate, built in the first half of the 14th century in North German Brick Gothic style. It consists of an 18-metre-high outer gate, a 24-metre-high main gate, 40-metre-long connecting walls, and a half-timbered toll house set into the eastern wall. The main gate's city side displays nine terracotta figures called Adorantinnen with open arms.
Dendrochronological analysis of roof timbers dates the main gate to 1310/1311, making it the second-oldest of Neubrandenburg's gates after the Friedländer Tor. The outer gate followed a few decades later. The two are 40 metres apart, linked by curtain walls about 4 metres high; a half-timbered customs house sits in the eastern wall. Two mills once stood outside, driven by the Linde, of which only the Lohmühle survives.
The name Stargarder Tor marks the road leading south toward the former Stargard, today Burg Stargard. Older records also call it the Wendisches Tor, after the Slavic Wends who lived south of the city, or the Wanzkaer Tor, after the Wanzka nunnery to the south. From the town side, nine terracotta figures called Adorantinnen stand with open arms; their meaning and age are unknown.
The gate can be visited year-round without entrance fees and is easily accessible from outside. Visitors should keep in mind that this is an open monument best explored during daylight hours to fully appreciate its architectural details and stonework.
The gate owes its lack of a moat to the marshy ground around Neubrandenburg, so no outer wall ring (Zingel) was built here, unlike at the city's other gates. Two mills once stood outside it; only the Lohmühle survives, now a hotel with a restaurant.
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