Holstentor
It would also have been pointless, since the view of the lower parts of the Holsten Gate from the city side was obscured by high walls.
This inscription is also from 1871 and is a shortened form of the text which had previously been on the (not preserved) foregate: "Concordia domi et pax foris sane res est omnium pulcherrima" ("Harmony within and peace outside are indeed the greatest good of all"; see "Outer Holsten Gate" below).
The reasoning during construction may have been to be able to quickly destroy the gate from the city side in an emergency, so that it would not fall into enemy hands as a bulwark.
Each tile bears one of three different ornaments: either an arrangement of four heraldic lilies, a symmetrical lattice, or a representation of four thistle leaves.
But since this picture shows the Holstentor Gate in the middle of a fantasy landscape of mountains and forests the credibility of the representation is disputed.
The ceiling of the north tower's second floor has been removed, so that today the second and third upper storeys there share a common space.
The rich Hanseatic city of Lübeck felt the need in the course of the centuries to protect itself from outside threats with ever stronger walls and fortifications.
There is good evidence for the appearance of the gate erected at that time in a woodcut of a view of the city of Lübeck produced by Elias Diebel.
Its foregate was small compared with the approximately one hundred years older Middle Holsten Gate, but much more richly decorated on the field side.
It read, "Pulchra res est pax foris et concordia domi – MDLXXXV" ("It is wonderful to have peace without and harmony within - 1585") and was placed on the city side.
It was later moved to the field side and slightly modified ("Concordia domi et foris pax sane res est omnium pulcherrima", "harmony within and peace without are the greatest good of all").
The builder of the Renaissance gate was probably the city architect Hermann von Rode, who designed the front following Dutch prototypes.
This gate existed for about 250 years and was in the end sacrificed to the railway; it was demolished in 1853 to make room for the first Lübeck train station and tracks.
The archways bore the inscriptions "Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos" ( "If God be for us, who can be against us?")
Indeed, in 1855, Lübeck citizens petitioned the Senate to finally demolish the remaining gate, since it hindered the extension of the railway facilities.
Thus August Reichensperger wrote in 1852, "Even Lübeck, once the proud head of the Hanseatic League, does not seem able to endure the reflection of its former glory.
A decision was made only in 1863 when the Lübeck citizens decided by a majority of just one vote not to demolish the building but to instead extensively restore it.
Changes were, however, also made which did not correspond with the original character of the gate, including the above-mentioned merging of north tower floors.
It was called the Hall of Honor and Glory, and was supposed to represent Lübeck and German history from the perspective of Nazi ideology.
In the second half of the 20th century minor repairs were made to the Holsten Gate which are no longer in line with current standards for architectural conservation.
It was considered to be the last swastika still remaining on a public building in Germany and was supposed to be concealed with metal sheeting as part of the restoration work.
On 2 December 2006, the Holstentor reopened to the public as part of a light show created by the artist Michael Batz.
The two monumental iron statues of reclining lions placed in an area in front of the Holsten Gate designed by Harry Maasz date from 1823 and are unsigned.
They were originally placed in front of the house built in 1840 by the Lübeck merchant and art collector John Daniel Jacobj (1798–1847) at Große Petersgrube 18.
Not only was the torture chamber removed; all rooms were redesigned according to a new concept that involved the integration of image and sound documentation.
The Holsten Gate Square (Holstentorplatz) is enclosed on one side by a branch of the Deutsche Bundesbank; with new construction extending the original Reichsbank building to the rear.
On the other side there is the brick expressionist Holsten Gate Hall (Holstentorhalle) between the historic salt warehouses and the DGB's House of Trade Unions (Gewerkschaftshaus).
Another pedestrian bridge over the Upper Trave River was completed in spring 2007 to provide a connection the university's main building complex in the old city centre.
The Holsten Gate appears on the 50 DM bank notes produced from 1960 to 1991 and on the German two-euro coin issued in 2006.
The current Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon dressed as a landmark building was achieved by a Richard Mietz wearing a Holstentor costume at the 2018 Berlin Marathon[5] The Amphicar (a mass-produced amphibious automobile) built in Lübeck in the 1960s, sports a golden image of the Holstentor on the horn button in the center of the steering wheel.
