Steiner Tor

The Steiner Tor stands in Krems an der Donau, a town on the Danube in Lower Austria’s Wachau valley. Built late in the 15th century, it was later reshaped in the Baroque style and remains the city’s emblem. Until the 1870s the town was enclosed by a wall, of which only the gate and its flanking towers survive. In 2005 the gate was restored to something close to its original appearance for the 700-year anniversary of Krems’s town charter. Outside the archway, two towers rise from the late Middle Ages, while the coat of arms of Emperor Friedrich III and the date 1480 mark a restoration after Hungarian raids in 1477. The gate’s lower section still shows the medieval stonework, but the tower itself dates from the 18th century, built under Maria Theresa in 1756. Floods from the Danube once threatened the structure; on the inner face of the gate a plaque recalls the flood of 1573. A shopping centre now stands just beyond the gate. A 1960 Austrian postage stamp featured the Steiner Tor at 3.40 schillings. Visitors find the gate set between two medieval towers, one bearing the emperor’s arms and the year 1480. The Baroque tower behind rises above the archway, its stonework lighter and more ornate. Inside, the memorial to the 1573 flood is mounted above the passage. Outside, the Danube’s old threat is recalled by the flood mark on the inner wall. Nearby, the shopping centre offers a modern contrast to the ancient stonework.