Gate of Steinen

The Steinentor was a gate of the city of Basel and once part of the Basel city wall. It was finally demolished in the course of the Basel City Extension Act of 1859 in 1866.

History

The Steinentor was first mentioned in 1387 as Herthor on stones. Presumably it was the succession to a gate of a pre-existing suburban attachment. 1473 a Vorwerk was built with a roof in front of the gate tower in the moat. At the same time probably was also the Torvorhof, which extended up to today's " inside Margarethenstrasse ". About thirty years ago a provisional Vorwerk had been built.

The illustration by Emanuel Büchel 1745 shows that the Steinentor owned a tent roof and a Vorwerk. The tower roof disappeared in 1842 and was replaced by a crenellated crown with bell tower. The atrium was cut in the 1830er/1840er-Jahren to half the length.

1858 of the court of the gate was terminated with the guard-house and the bridge over the moat, after the trench had been filled. The Barbican at the gate tower had to give way in 1865, in October 1866, the tower itself fell to the abutting wall sections. He was standing right next to the present BVB tram station Heuwaage.