Significance
The old gate was constructed to mark the end of a "Via Triumphalis" that led from the cathedral to the city walls. On major religious occasions, the Emperor and his court would enter the city through the gate and proceed along this roadway (25 to 30 metres wide, and 700 metres long) to the cathedral.
For security reasons, the only openings on the gate's west side are two rows of embrasures. The eastern side is more finely crafted. Above the gate's archway, there is a walkway around the tower. From that walkway, it is possible to see ten stone brackets that project from the wall itself; these once connected the gate to the walls on the north and south sides of the Old Gate.
Read more about this topic: Old Gate (Speyer)
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—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
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“Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)