# Twin-Tower Gate of Altenstein Castle

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Content updated: 2026-08-19

The Doppelturmtor is the main gateway into Altenstein Castle, a hillside ruin in Germany. It stands between the outer defenses and the older heart of the castle. Two powerful round towers flank the passage, each once rising through three unvaulted floors. T-shaped arrow slits pierce the walls, with a lowered vertical channel that let a defender aim through a narrow gap.

The gate belongs to a large outer defensive ring built during the Hussite wars, around 1430. The design already allowed for firearms: short curtain walls tie the gate to two further round towers. The main entrance has not always stood here. During those wars an older gate was walled up for safety, and access moved to the mountainside. The eastern section still dates from that Hussite phase, and the western side gained its present shape around 1567. The passage took on a more formal face as well: checkpoint and statement of rank at once.

Through the gate, the ruins open toward a courtyard, a chapel and the remains of the residential buildings. The keep stands almost square, about ten metres to a side, with bossed stones and traces of fishbone patterning. The lords of the castle did not have it to themselves. In 1296 eight families were already living within the fortress. A castle-peace agreement of 1441 names ten brothers and cousins from five families, each with their own quarters. A castle inhabited and run by several related lines is called a Ganerbenburg. The hill itself has proved restless, because sandstone beneath the castle slides slowly over softer clay and marl. Major conservation work since the late twentieth century has secured the ruin. Look up as you pass beneath the twin towers: a worn relief shows the Stein family's three hammers between shield-bearers. Weather has softened the carving, yet the mark of a powerful family still shows.

- City: [Altenstein](https://mytuur.com/en/city/altenstein/)

## Photos

- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Doppelturmtor_der_Burg_Altenstein_6a54ffe502b07dcc41936e62_0.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Altenstein_Burg-20200106-RM-152453.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Doppelturmtor_der_Burg_Altenstein_6a54ffe502b07dcc41936e62_1.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burgruine_Altenstein_-_panoramio.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Doppelturmtor_der_Burg_Altenstein_6a54ffe502b07dcc41936e62_2.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Altenstein_Burg-20200106-RM-152208.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_Doppelturmtor_der_Burg_Altenstein_6a54ffe502b07dcc41936e62_3.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Altenstein_Burgkapelle_-20200106-RM-151115.jpg)

Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Altenstein. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.

## What is myTuur?

myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.