Medieval City Wall

The approximately 5.5 km long city wall was built from 12th to 13th century. In addition to smaller gates, another twelve larger gates allowed citizens to enter.

The new city wall ran a little inside the »Ring«; streets such as Severinswall, Kartäuserwall, Pantaleonswall are still reminiscent of the direction in which it ran.

In 1881, the City of Cologne bought the city wall for 12 million marks from the state, and began to tear it down.

Individual parts, gates, and towers of this fortification system remain in existence, providing the Cologne squares with their particular flair.