Alsfeld walled!Construction of the new city fortification completed

The oldest surviving account in which the town wall is mentioned dates back to 1384. A city fortification with a wall, moat and towers serves to protect and defend the city. It also separates the urban world inside from the peasant world outside.

And it is a legal boundary: different rights apply inside the walls than outside. Those who additionally possessed citizenship had further privileges over non-citizens.

In Alsfeld, the construction of the new town fortification was completed at the end of the 14th century. The city wall was about 1,200 meters long and up to 7 meters high. In front of it ran a wide moat filled with water.

There were four entrances: the Obertor in the north, the Hersfeld Tor in the east, the Fulder Tor in the southeast and the Mainzer Tor in the southwest.

Certainly, there were fortifications before, but their form and extent are unknown. The model was created for the new furnishing of the museum and shows Alsfeld around 1550. The reconstruction of the Walpurgis Church, the construction of the new town hall, the Wine House and the Wedding House as well as that of the Landgrave’s Castle had already been completed. The fortifications probably largely correspond to those of 1384. In 1553/54 the moat was filled in and turned into gardens. CCRH