Türkentor (Helmstedt)

The Türkentor in the Lower Saxon district town of Helmstedt in Germany was in 1716 to commemorate the victory over the Turks in the same year built. It served as her entrance to Domänenhof of the current federal highway 1 and stood in the line of flight to the dovecote. It was badly damaged by an air raid in World War II and 1986, built on its present site. It shows in the gable the imperial coat of arms and the side passages, the coat of arms of abbot and prior of the monastery, in whose tenure the gate was built. The gate was the main entrance to the former convent of St. Ludgeri.

In the architrave are Roman numbers that are to be translated and added in 1716 yield. Immediately to the right and left across the double pilasters, the sun can be seen ( as a symbol of the Empire ) and the waning moon ( a symbol of the Ottoman Empire ). The symbolized in the chronograms number refers to the victory of the Imperial army under Prince Eugene at the Battle of Petrovaradin over the Turks in 1716. At the victory of the reigning Duke of Brunswick Ferdinand Albrecht was instrumental as well as a native of the Magdeburg, Emden Reichsgraf Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg.

With the establishment of the Turkish Gate triumphal arch as Abbot and Prior brought with them the joy of victory and the attachment to the Emperor expressed, who was in the monastery in worldly affairs. The familial connection to the House of Brunswick may have played a not insignificant role.