Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The tower of the Forgerons, also called Schmiedtor in Alsatian, is a fortified gate of the walls of Molsheim, built in the 1st quarter of the 14th century. It marked the southern entrance of the city and was the main gateway to the medieval city as early as 1363. Its name would come from local blacksmiths, although some sources also call the door of Strasbourg or the door of Saint George. The tower, rectangular (9x8.5 m), had a drawbridge, a harrow, and a guard body (Wachstube) to monitor the surroundings. A house at the door-paager was nearby.

In 1783, a fire ravaged the structure of the tower after a doorman, sounding the tocsin, accidentally set fire to it. The bell melted, and the pointed roof was rebuilt from a different angle. The current bell, coming from the church of Saint George, weighs four tons and still sounds today at 6am and 10pm, the legacy of the old hours of opening doors. In 1868, a statue of the Virgin with the Child, in gold cast iron, was added to the external face, offered by the local bourgeoisie.

The tower was listed as a Historic Monument in 1929. It retains defensive elements such as dungeons on the 1st floor and hump-angle chains. The ditch surrounding the ramparts, filled in the 18th century, was replaced by gardens. Among the three original gates of Molsheim, only the gate of the Forgerons remains, the others (gate of the Mountain, door of the Tanneurs) having been destroyed between 1808 and 1868. The courtine, 2,100 m long, was pierced with brutish trees and flanked by towers, some of which remain partially.

The medieval enclosure, built around 1250-1260 and enlarged in 1318-1325 by Bishop John I of Dirpheim, included the Episcopal Castle and the Sainte-Marie Hospice. The ramparts, 7 to 9.5 m high, were crowned by a round road and surrounded by a 15 to 20 m wide ditch, fed by a channel derived from the Bruche. In the 19th century, changes were made: the creation of pedestrian doors (dated 1861), the modification of the roofs of the guard corps, and the addition of a porch with columns.

Today, the tower still serves as a passageway for vehicles. Its bell tower houses a small bell, while the four-paned roof rises over four levels above the ground floor. The nearby powderbox, with Renaissance cannons, recalls the siege of 1592 by the Strasbourgs. Although partially masked by later constructions, the Forgeron Tower remains a major testimony of Alsatian defensive architecture.

External links