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The Lower City Gate formed the termination of Torgasse (Gate Alley) in the direction of Kulmbach, and was built on each side of the apartment buildings (photo right).

Its exact location can be inferred from the situation chart after the great city fire of 1837. At that time, however, there was no longer a secure defensive tower, as in the upper city gate. On the contrary, it was a gatehouse that belonged to the butcher assistant Johann Adam Braun; he was also the owner of the houses on the right hand side. Over the gateway was a room in which the city musican lived. With the great fire on the nights from 8th to 9th and from 10th to 11th of July, 1845, more than 30 houses were destroyed. The front part of Kulmbacher Straße burned down, and also the shingle covered roofs of Braun's property. However, since the left side building of owner Limmer on Kulmbacher Straße were burned down, the rest had to be taken down. The gatehouse also collapsed. The gatehouse vaults made of broken stone stood with the front gable side of the house and could no longer bear the great weight. Also, a part of Braun's building tumbled down.

After long discussions with the local fire damage and estimation commission as well as the government commission, Braun was compensated 1,083 Gulden. Reconstruction was not considered, since the shingle a new fire threatened roofs of the higher lying parsonage apartments, deanery building, and the city church. The still standing walls were not suitable for a more substantial roof, and therefore the entire estate was finally torn down. Since now the second city gate no longer existed, the image of Münchberg, as a fortified medieval city was lost.

You can view a 3D model of the Lower City Gate as a PDF file (46MB) and zoom and rotate it.
In Google Earth you can view the Lower City Gate if you download our HMW file for Google Earth.