The city charter that Count Henry II of Sponheim (reigned 1350-1393) received for his village Kirchheim from Emperor Charles IV in 1368 was significant in several ways: with the right to fortify, it offered protection and shelter for the population, and with market rights, the possibility of economic development.<\/p>\n
What was missing, however, was a larger surrounding area, as Henry II’s county comprised only five villages around Kirchheimbolanden.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, the inner-city market square [Location 39] only required a small area.<\/p>\n
Medieval Kirchheimbolanden was thus an ‘agrarian town’. While fortification and market traffic certainly set the town apart from its surroundings, a large part of the local population also met their food needs through their own cultivation. <\/p>\n
In contrast to Dannenfels, 7 kilometers away, where Henry’s father Philip had made an unsuccessful attempt at urban development in 1331, Kirchheimbolanden became a Sponheim ‘success story’.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/visit-kirchheimbolanden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sw-01-vorstadtturm-2-e1755076984487.jpg” title_text=”Sw-01-Vorstadtturm-2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/visit-kirchheimbolanden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sw-01-vorstadtturm-5.jpg” title_text=”Sw-01-Vorstadtturm-5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” width=”49%” module_alignment=”center” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ custom_margin=”16px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ text_font=”||||||||” custom_margin=”||-1px||false|false” custom_padding=”||3px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ text_font_size_phone=”14px” text_font_size_last_edited=”off|desktop” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]
The Lower Gate (Outlying Tower) formed the most important and therefore best protected access to the city. If, in turbulent times, the Upper Gate [Location 19] remained permanently closed, traffic to and from the city exclusively passed through the Lower Gate. <\/p>\n
The gate tower has a square footprint of 6 x 6 m and had a (now slightly widened) passage 3 m wide. Four floors were built on top of the gate passage, with the uppermost offering a particularly good view of the city’s surroundings. It can also be assumed that at the level of this floor, there was a continuous round arch frieze on the outside, as is still preserved on other towers and wall sections. <\/p>\n
The city was only accessible here via a drawbridge. In front of it, at a distance of about 30 m, was a small round tower for the guards at the barrier located there. <\/p>\n
The southern city access was thus, in the medieval sense, a highly defensible complex and at the same time a representative expression of urban centrality.<\/p>\n
In the Nassau-Weilburg period in the 18th century, the gate then only had a purely visual function, but was now even more emphasized in the cityscape through its Baroque transformation.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/visit-kirchheimbolanden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sw-01-vorstadtturm-3.jpg” title_text=”Sw-01-Vorstadtturm-3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ custom_margin=”|auto||auto|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ text_font=”||||||||” custom_margin=”||-1px||false|false” custom_padding=”||36px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ text_font_size_phone=”14px” text_font_size_last_edited=”off|desktop” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]
The medieval designation of the ‘Outlying Tower’ as ‘Bolander Pforten’ (Bolander Gate) refers to Neubolanden Castle, located 3 km to the south, and the Lords of Bolanden residing there. Their feudal register (around 1190) also mentions beneficia (estates), partem frumenti et tocius iustricie (grain revenues and jurisdiction) in Kirchheim. <\/p>\n
That Count Henry II of Sponheim (reigned 1350-1393) was then able to further expand the Bolanden legal basis enabled him to assume a sovereign role.<\/p>\n
The “Bolander Pforten” was therefore more than just a directional indicator; the Bolanden Castle was also an imposing complex, one of the large ones, especially those built in the Palatinate during the Staufer period. A model is shown in the “Museum in the City Palace” [Location 28]. <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/visit-kirchheimbolanden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sw-01-vorstadtturm-6.jpg” title_text=”Sw-01-Vorstadtturm-6″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Outlying TowerCity of Kirchheimbolanden The city charter that Count Henry II of Sponheim (reigned 1350-1393) received for his village Kirchheim from Emperor Charles IV in 1368 was significant in several […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baroque-era","category-middle-ages"],"yoast_head":"\n