Stadtmauer
About This Site
Mühlhausen's medieval town wall once ran 2.8 kilometres around the old town in travertine quarried from the ground it stood on; 2.2 kilometres survive,[1] and a 370-metre stretch from the Inner Frauentor is open to walk, past a defensive-history exhibition and up the Rabenturm's viewing platform.[2]
A wall of the town's own stone
The inner and older of Mühlhausen's two town walls ran almost 2.8 kilometres around some 50 hectares of the old town, nearly a kilometre east to west and half that north to south. It was built, gates and towers included, from travertine — a young freshwater limestone quarried right in the town — with walls up to two metres thick at the battlements. Four main gates once stood in it: the Görmartor to the northeast, the Erfurter Tor to the southeast, the Felchtaer Tor to the southwest and the Frauentor to the northwest, along with a handful of smaller ones.[1]
What survives, and what a visitor can walk
About 2.2 kilometres of the wall still stand.[1] From the city side of the Inner Frauentor, a 370-metre museum stretch of the old fortifications is open to walk, its exhibition covering the town's defensive history and the city fires that repeatedly struck it, with a Biedermeier-furnished room along the way. The Rabenturm's viewing platform, 34.2 metres up, looks out over Mühlhausen and the country around it.[2]
Questions visitors ask
- How long is Mühlhausen's town wall?
- The inner wall originally ran almost 2.8 kilometres around the old town; about 2.2 kilometres still stand.[1]
- Can I walk part of the town wall?
- Yes — a 370-metre museum stretch is open from the Inner Frauentor, past an exhibition on the town's defensive history and up to the Rabenturm's viewing platform, 34.2 metres up.[2]
- What is the wall built from?
- Travertine, a young freshwater limestone quarried right in Mühlhausen — the gates and towers as well as the wall itself.[1]
- How many gates did the wall have?
- Four main gates: the Görmartor to the northeast, the Erfurter Tor to the southeast, the Felchtaer Tor to the southwest and the Frauentor to the northwest, plus a handful of smaller ones.[1]
- How thick is the wall?
- Up to two metres at the height of the battlements.[1]
Sources
- City wall — Stadt Mühlhausen, retrieved 30 August 2026
- Wehranlage — Mühlhäuser Museen, retrieved 30 August 2026
Visit Information
Am Frauentor 13, 99974 Mühlhausen
In Weimar's history
Around Weimar
67 km Northwest
The medieval wall a visitor can still walk a stretch of, from the Inner Frauentor.