Ratinger Tor

Ratinger Tor stands east of Düsseldorf’s medieval centre, where Heinrich-Heine-Allee meets Maximilian-Weyhe-Allee. Two nearly square gatehouses recall ancient temples. Ratinger Straße, one of Düsseldorf’s oldest streets, ends here beside the route through Hofgarten towards Schloss Jägerhof.

Built between 1811 and 1815, the classical structure replaced a medieval gate after the Peace of Lunéville led to the fortifications’ demolition. The new customs gate moved 115 metres east, extending Ratinger Straße by 60 metres and creating today’s Heinrich-Heine-Allee. Adolph von Vagedes designed the buildings, drawing inspiration from Athens’ Propylaea and later influencing Berlin’s Neue Wache. Doric columns stand on three sides, while gold-painted laurel wreaths decorate the metopes beneath an undecorated tympanum.

A bronze sculpture honouring Clara and Robert Schumann has stood before the southern gate since October 2022. The work by Markus Lüpertz adds a modern artistic note to this surviving piece of Düsseldorf’s original city boundary.

City: Düsseldorf
Content updated: 2026-06-22

Image: Jula2812 CC BY-SA 4.0
Image: Schreuer, gest. 1933Public domain
Image: Spitz, Joh. Wil. (Johann Wilhelm)No restrictions
Image: J.H. van DouwePublic domain
Image: T.M.L.-KuTV GFDL

Take this page with you

The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.

Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Düsseldorf. 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.