Uenglinger Tor

The Uenglinger Tor stands at the northern end of Stendal’s old town, part of the medieval city wall built between 1288 and 1306. Its square base of fieldstone and brick was later crowned in the 15th century with a round upper section and four corner turrets. The name comes from the road that once led west to the village of Uenglingen. The tower is one of the best-preserved medieval gates in northern Germany after Lübeck’s Holstentor. In the 19th century it was restored at the king’s expense alongside Stendal’s cathedral and Marienkirche. Heinrich Trost noted how the upper battlements had to be recreated from fragments and Renaissance drawings. Visitors now climb the 27.5-metre tower through a pointed archway. Above the passage are the four small oriel turrets and a central round turret, all framed by white shield-shaped plaster panels. From the crenellated viewing platform there is a wide view over Stendal’s red-brick skyline. The inner floors still show the former guard rooms and arrow slits facing the old wall.