Beinsteiner Torturm

The Beinsteiner Gate Tower is the only remaining city gate. From there, the roads once led over the hill-paths to Winnenden and via Beinstein through the Rems valley to Schorndorf.


Torturm

The city gate stands at the lowest point of the old town, the lower part of which was previously frequently endangered by floods (see flood marks of 1817 / 1919 / 1920). First installed in the 13th century, there was probably only a reinforced bridge gate here. The almost square tower (8.80 m x 8.60 m) was probably only raised to five storeys in 1491 with the high tower extension (total height 37.30 m). The small bell hanging in the ridge turret dates from 1667. The citizens of Waiblingen had their pigs driven to pasture through the gate by a publicly appointed pig shepherd. The tower is still popularly known as the Säuturm (Pigs Tower). The three original Waiblingen city gates were guarded during the day, and until 1830 were closed at night to keep tramps, beggars and travelling people away. The tower also served as a municipal detention cell and from 1818 to 1864 as a prison for the Supreme Court, The barred windows are still in evidence today.Thanks to this function, the Säuturm was not demolished in the 19th century as were the other two city gates. Until 1834, a gatekeeper's house stood close to the tower. Here, Hans Caspar Schiller - an ancestor of Friedrich Schiller (1759 - 1805) - lived from 1650 to 1668. Schiller's great-grandfather, Johann Caspar Schiller was also born here. In 1668 the family acquired a house on Waiblingen's market square. After Waiblingen's thorough restoration in 1978, the tower housed the Heritage Centre of the Csavolyer (expellees from Hungary).

Representations at the Beinsteiner Tor

The upper coat of arms relief fom 1491 recalls Count Eberhard (V.) in Bart, during whose reign Württemberg was elevated to duchy (1495). Under the Eberhard coat of arms with the Württemberg stag antlers and the Mömpelgard-Barben (2 fish) you can see the coat of arms of Waiblingen, both held by two angels. The frame is formed by two palm trees (in memory of Count Eberhard's Palestinian journey in 1468), which are decorated with the motto of Count AT (T)EM(P)TO (I dare!). Among them are engravings from 1938 depicting scenes from the history of Waiblingen: in the middle a Staufer knight, on the left the town's foundation around 1250, below and on the right the downfall of the town in 1634. The lower picture depicts Duke Ulrich's Waiblingen flag bearer, who, having lost his hands in a battle near Hedelfingen in 1519, tried to save the flag with his teeth! It is still reminiscent of the contemporary hero cult during the Nazi era.

Rems Bridge

The inner, stone Remsbrücke bridge was built on older foundations by Johann Adam Groß in 1737/38. The outer reinforced concrete bridge was only completed and fully passable in 1927/29. Until the construction of the first B14 ring road in 1934, all traffic from Schwäbisch Hall and Nuremberg to Stuttgart passed through the Beinsteiner Tor and through the old town of Waiblingen.