Friesentor

The gate takes its name from Friesenstraße, the neighbourhood's main street, recorded as early as 1165 under the Latin name "platea Frisorum." Its predecessor was the Löwenpforte, the north-western entrance to the old inner city. The name traces back to Frisian cloth merchants who dominated long-distance trade along the Rhine during the Carolingian period and are said to have settled south of St. Gereon. This is supported by the frequent occurrence of names of Frisian origin in the neighbourhood during the 12th century. The earliest known form of the gate's name, "porta frisea," was in use by 1244.

With the construction of new fortifications from 1180 onwards, the old Roman wall lost its defensive function and was gradually quarried for stone. The Friesentor was one of the city's original twelve field gates, though it was not opened on a daily basis. In 1473 the city council ordered it closed, and between 1505 and 1525 the main passage was largely bricked up, leaving only a small doorway. By 1528, cart traffic had ceased entirely. Arnold Mercator's panoramic view of Cologne from 1570/71 shows the six-storey, battlemented structure with the gateway already sealed.