At the moment, in Freiburg, there are two city gates, and Martinstor (that is, Martinstor, or the gate of St. Martin) are the oldest of them. This is actually a city gate - once they were covered with doors and allowed to pass through the city walls inside the city, but now there are no walls, the doors are also there, only the gates are preserved.

Freiburg received the city status (and with it the right to erect the city walls) in 1120, and their construction began soon after. The gates of Martinstor were built in 1202, they were built immediately in stone, so that the lower part of the tower belongs to this era. The city wall approached the gate from both sides - it was possible to get out of the gate to its top, along the edge there was a protective parapet. From the gate began the road to the neighboring big city - Basel, and in front of the gate there was a bridge over the moat surrounding the city, around the circle.

The gate was rebuilt several times, and in the 19th century they were three times taller, made tram tracks under them and built next to them one more passage and several buildings, carefully stylizing they are under the 15th century - everything to enable transport traffic and not to tear down the gates.

Now it's a tall narrow tower with a clock at the top. There are few decorative elements on it, but it has a very rich historical past. The walls of Freiburg were taken by storm (the last attempt was made by the French during the Great French Revolution), through which the conquerors entered, but the bulk of its past is sad - this is the former city "witch prison." In the 16th and 17th centuries, a very active witch-hunt took place in the region, and the caught victims of justice were held there. Here the investigation was carried out, and then execution (on the street near the gate).

Now inside the tower itself you can not go in, and in the outbuildings there are shops and cafes nearby.

Address: Freiburg im Breisgau, Martinsgassle .