Rosgarten Gate

Rosgarten Gate (German: Roßgärter Tor) is one of the eight preserved city gates of Kaliningrad. It is located at the intersection of Chernyakhovsky Street and Alexander Nevsky Street, near Vasilevsky Square and the Amber Museum. The current gate building stands on the site of the original gate of the same name, which belonged to the city’s first rampart fortifications (early 17th century).

The modern Rosgarten Gate of Königsberg was built between 1852 and 1855 on the site of the old gate of the same name from the first rampart fortifications of the early 17th century, according to a design by the director of fortress construction, engineer-captain Irfügelbrecht, and engineer-lieutenant von Heile. The gate façade project was developed by the secret supreme construction councilor August Stüler, and the sculptural decorations were created by Wilhelm Ludwig Stürmer.

The first gate project was developed in 1852 by the fortress department in Königsberg. This project was significantly revised by the secret councilor Stüler. Stüler personally worked on the façade design, giving it distinctly pronounced Gothic forms.

After the war, the gate was restored and repurposed as the café-restaurant “Sunstone.”

The gate has only one passage, five meters wide. On both sides of the passage, there are three casemates. Thus, the gate’s façade consists of seven openings. On the city side, the casemates have windows, while on the outside, they have embrasures.

Above the gate façade is a row of battlements, divided into two halves by a raised central section. On the sides, the central section is framed by two tall octagonal turrets, topped with decorative machicolations. Between the turrets is a tall arch that precedes the actual entrance to the gate. Above the arch is an observation platform enclosed by battlements. To the right and left of the arch run arcades consisting of arches supported by columns.

On either side of the main arch are two medallion portraits depicting the Prussian generals Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. While the city side of the gate features beautiful decorative design, the outer side lacks decorative elements. On the outside, the passage is protected by a blockhouse from which circular rifle and artillery fire could be directed, and a guardhouse, from the embrasures of which frontal and flanking fire could be delivered. The guardhouse had double doors. In front of the guardhouse was a moat, over which a drawbridge was laid. In 1972, the Rosgarten Gate was gradually reconstructed.

Sources:

https://www.prussia39.ru/sight/index.php?sid=546

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Росгартенские_ворота