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Origin and history

The City Gate of Altkirch, known as Old Gate or Belfort Gate, is one of the few remains of the medieval fortifications of the city, built before 1215. It consists of a 14th century stone vaulted passage, surmounted by a wooden superstructure dating from the 3rd quarter of the 18th century (an engraved date, 1775, is attested). This monument illustrates the urban transformations associated with the loss of strategic utility of the ramparts, gradually converted to civilian uses.

The fortifications of Altkirch, including a enclosure and a castle, were built between the 12th and 13th centuries under the possible impulse of Frederick II of Ferrette, then passed into the hands of the Habsburgs. The Treaty of Münster (1648) links the city with France, marking the military decline of the ramparts. In the 18th century, breakthroughs were made to facilitate traffic, such as the Porte Neuve in 1754, while the houses fell on the walls. The Old Gate, classified in 1937, preserves defensive elements (broken arches, bosses) and residential additions (balcony, wooden panel facades).

The castle, now extinct, was centered on a circular dungeon surrounded by towers and ditches, as illustrated by drawings from the 18th and 19th centuries. Its decline accelerated in the 19th century: the ruins were razed between 1844 and 1845 to build a church. The urban enclosure, 300 m by 100 m quadrilateral, was initially pierced by two doors (Belfort and Basel), reinforced by towers such as the Jochturm or the Bloch tower, adapted to artillery in the 16th and 17th centuries. These remains, partially converted into houses, reflect the adaptation of medieval structures to modern needs.

The Old Gate thus combines historical strata: the outer arch could date back to the 13th century, while the wooden frame (1775) and interior fittings (melt balcon) date back to the 18th–18th centuries. The plans of the intendant of Alsace La Galaizière (1786) confirm its transformation into a guard post. After 1919, a neo-medieval building came to the door, illustrating the romantic reinterpretation of the Alsatian heritage.

The written sources are missing precisely to date the initial construction of the enclosure and the castle, although Comtal residences (Louis de Bar in the 11th century, Thierry de Montbéliard in 1102) are mentioned. The first tangible evidence of fortifications dates back to 1215, when Altkirch was qualified as "d'oppidum". The castle, cited in 1231, was probably prior to the city, typical of the castral villages. Its gradual abandonment, accelerated by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), led to its demolition in the 19th century for urban and religious reasons.

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