Overview

Maria Theresia had this gate built to mark the engagement of her son Leopold (later Emperor Leopold II) to the Spanish Maria Ludovica in 1744. It is reminiscent of a Roman triumphal arch. How fortunate that only a few months previously the town authorities decided to demolish the outermost town gates. Although very glitzy, the marriage in question was not a joyous one; during the festivities, Emperor Franz Stephan I suddenly died. The architect took it upon himself to modify the facade of the arches, so that the southern facing side depicted jolly figures, the north mourning ones.