Nalbertor

The Nalbertor stands in Retz, a town in Lower Austria. It was one of two town gates, built around 1300. The gate’s tower, the Nalberturm, survives only in part. Both the gate and tower once formed part of Retz’s defences. The site is now protected as a historic monument. The tower lost its main role after the Hussites captured Retz in 1425. A new gate was built east of the old one, and the Nalberturm became part of a fortified gateway called the Nalbertorwerk. During the Thirty Years’ War it held gunpowder and housed the city’s armoury. Later it received a clock, like the town hall tower. The gate was closed and reopened several times during wars, finally staying open in 1647. Visitors today see the remaining tower standing near the old town wall. A baroque statue of the Virgin Mary, erected in 1714, stands before it. The area once held the town gallows and a prison inside the tower. The gate itself was demolished in 1832 to make way for a new road. Only the lower part of the tower remains, but it still marks the edge of Retz’s historic core.