Ulrepforte

Ulrepforte stands in Cologne as a medieval city gate incorporated into the city wall. Construction began in the late twelfth century, and the gate was probably complete by 1230. Its four-metre passage made it the smallest land-facing gate in Cologne. Two open, semicircular towers once flanked a multi-storey central building.

Around 1450, builders walled up the passage and converted the structure into the Carthusian windmill. A 23.5-metre mill tower rose above the northern tower, while eight cross vaults supported its gallery. The raised outer wall still reveals this transformation today. In 1268, attackers tried to tunnel beneath the wall here during a conflict between rival patrician families.

A relief made in 1360 recalls the fighting that followed inside Cologne. The original stands in the Cologne City Museum, while a copy remains beside the gate. A two-storey caponniere occupies the former moat in front of the structure. Preserved wall sections and two defensive towers nearby extend the medieval setting. Since 1955, the Kölsche Funke rut-wieß carnival society has maintained the buildings and supported their restoration.