Town walls of Freyburg

Freyburg’s medieval town wall stands on the Unstrut river in the Burgenlandkreis of Sachsen-Anhalt. It was built to protect the town that grew beside the Neuenburg castle after 1200. The wall runs for about 1,200 metres around the old town, enclosing the church and the market square on all four sides. The wall was strengthened in the 15th century during the Saxon feuds, adding ramparts, ditches and barbicans to the gates. In 1447 it withstood a two-week siege by the Saxon elector, proving its worth. Made of closely jointed shell limestone, the wall reaches six to seven metres high and one metre thick. Twelve of the original sixteen mural towers still stand, each with arrow slits once fitted with wooden shutters. Visitors walk along the top of the wall on a wooden walkway behind the battlements. The three surviving town gates—the Obertor in the north, the Kirchtor by the church, and the Eckstädter Tor in the southwest—show different styles. The Eckstädter Tor still has rare key-slits and outward-flaring hoist-slots. Below the wall, the Unstrut valley slopes rise steeply, framing the town with vineyards and orchards.