Ochsenfurt Town Fortification

The Ochsenfurt town fortifications already existed in the first half of the 14th century and form a regular rectangle around the historic old town. In the last third of the 14th century, it received its basic form, still largely preserved today, consisting of a ring wall, a Zwinger (outer bailey), and a deep moat. It originally had four gates, of which the Upper Gate in the east, the Lower Gate in the northwest, and the Klingentor in the west are still preserved. The Main Gate, leading to the Old Main Bridge, was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century. Between the gates, the wall was protected by mighty rectangular and round towers. Extensions to the gates and towers took place in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, with further repairs in the 18th century.

Still preserved from the town fortifications today are:

• on the north side: the ring wall with a rectangular tower and the Zwinger wall with two semicircular towers;
• at the northeast corner: the outer battery tower and the inner, round corner tower (Centturm);
• on the east side: up to the height of Kolpingstrasse, the ring wall with a rectangular tower (White Tower) and the Zwinger wall, along Hauptstrasse the Upper Gate, between the Upper Gate and the southeast corner the ring wall, the Zwinger wall and the moat with retaining wall;
• at the southeast corner: the inner, square (Powder Tower) and the outer, round corner tower;
• on the south side: large parts of the ring wall, the entire Zwinger wall with five round and semicircular towers, and the moat with retaining walls;
• at the southwest corner: the outer battery tower (Thick Tower) and the inner, round corner tower (Nikolausturm);
• on the west side: built-in parts of the ring wall, the entire Zwinger wall with three semicircular shell towers, the moat with retaining walls, along Hauptstrasse the Klingentor;
• at the northwest corner: the Lower Gate and the inner, round corner tower (Taubenturm)

In addition to these exposed parts of the town fortifications, parts of the walls are also built into houses, especially in Boxgasse and in the Zwinger. These parts are listed in the following tables under the respective addresses.