Town Fortification Görlitz-Kaisertrutz

The Kaisertrutz is one of the once 32 bastions, of which four are still preserved today, that the city of Görlitz possessed for defense.

In the area of older suburban wooden buildings (barns), a "very strong fortification" was erected in 1427 as part of the Budissin (Bautzen) or Reichenbach Gate. In 1490, the "large Reichenbach Rondell", which later received the name Kaisertrutz, was built as an outwork bastion of the double city wall to secure the Via Regia trade route running through the city from the west.

During the Thirty Years' War in 1641, the Kaisertrutz received its name. The city was occupied by the Swedes and defied the imperial and Saxon troops outside the city during a weeks-long siege. In 1848, after the demolition of the connecting walls to the Reichenbach Tower and the city wall, the Kaisertrutz was converted into the main guardhouse of the Prussian garrison. Both the city moat around the Trutz and its basement were filled in. The new guardhouse received an arcaded portico and two flanking turrets. After extensive renovations, the departments of City History and Prehistory and Early History of Upper Lusatia of the then Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum were opened in the Kaisertrutz in 1932.

In 1948, the Kaisertrutz was reopened. The archaeological exhibition was moved to the Baroque House at Neiße Street 30 in favor of the new painting gallery. From 1998 to 1999, the filled-in basement was cleared, revealing a medieval wooden well from the 13th century beneath the foundations.