Brandenburger Tor (Altentreptow)

The Brandenburger Tor in Altentreptow is a Gothic town gate standing in the south of the small town. Built around 1450 as part of the city wall, it is one of only two surviving gates from the original three. The gate is made of brick and features a stepped gable on its front side. Its five-storey tower rises above the pointed arch passage and once served as a watchtower because of the town’s border position.

The gate’s height and location made it useful as both a defensive structure and later a prison. After 1895, a small extension was added next to the gate and used as a court prison until 1929. By the 1980s, the building had been reinforced and converted for cultural events. A poem by Fritz Simiot, written after 1945, remembers the gate in local memory.

Today the gate stands on Rudolf-Breitscheid-Straße, surrounded by the remains of the old town wall and earthworks. The entire site is protected as a monument. The brickwork shows traces of its long history, from medieval defence to modern use. Visitors see the tall tower, the arched passage and the small adjoining building that once held cells.