Sterntorbrücke is a short pedestrian shopping street on the western edge of Bonn's old town, close to Friedensplatz. Its name, 'Star Gate Bridge', is not a figure of speech: beneath the paving lies a listed brick bridge, about 35 metres long, that once carried the road over the moat of Bonn's Baroque fortifications. Right next to it stands the Sterntor, the city's best-known gate, which was itself torn down and rebuilt a few metres away.
Sterntorbrücke at a glance
- Where: in Bonn's pedestrian zone, between Friedensplatz and Bottlerplatz, at the western end of the old town.
- Built: the bridge belongs to the Baroque fortifications of the 17th century; it linked the outer Sterntor of 1662 with the land beyond the moat.
- What it is today: a pedestrian street lined with shops; the buried bridge is a protected monument, and since 1993 paving in the street has marked its course.
- Time needed: 10–15 minutes, including a look at the Sterntor.
From medieval wall to Baroque fortress
Bonn received the right to build a city wall from the Archbishop of Cologne, Konrad von Hochstaden, in 1244. The wall had four main gates, and the western one, the Sterntor, stood at the end of Sternstraße; the name probably comes from 'Pisternenstraße', the street of the bakers. In the 17th century, as artillery made medieval walls obsolete, Bonn was surrounded by a deep belt of bastions in the French and Italian manner. In front of the Sterntor an outer gate was built in 1662, and a bridge of seven brick barrel vaults carried the road across the fortress moat to it.
Bonn was besieged and occupied several times, most destructively in 1689. When the fortifications were finally given up, the outer gate was demolished in 1858, the moat was partly filled in and the bridge disappeared below the new street level. It survives under the street that took its name. The old inner Sterntor was the last medieval city gate left in Bonn, but after a long dispute between the city and preservationists it was pulled down in 1898 to make room for traffic, with the approval of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had studied in Bonn.
What to look for
- The paving markers in the street, laid in 1993, which trace the line of the buried bridge.
- The Sterntor on Bottlerplatz, rebuilt from 1900 using pieces of the original gate and attached to a surviving half-round tower of the medieval wall.
- On the Sterntor, a 16th-century stone Crucifixion group and a painted Madonna, taken over from the old gate.
- The outline of the original gate, marked in dark paving between Friedensplatz and Sternstraße, a few metres from where the rebuilt gate stands.
- At Friedensplatz, a stretch of the counterscarp, the outer wall of the old moat, now used as a low wall to sit on.
How a gate was demolished with a fruit press
Blasting was ruled out when the old Sterntor came down on 6 August 1898, so the city used a hydraulic fruit press lent by a local manufacturer to push the masonry apart. To calm the protests, the city promised to rebuild the gate, and in 1900 work began on the version you see today in Vivatsgasse, part reconstruction, part romantic invention. In the 1960s some business owners called for this replica to be removed as well, but it stayed, and since 2006 it has been a listed monument.
Tips for your visit
- Look down as well as up: the bridge markings are easy to miss among shoppers.
- Use the Sterntor as a meeting point; it is one of the best-known landmarks in central Bonn.
- Visit in the morning before the shops get busy if you want photos of the gate without crowds.
- Combine the street with Friedensplatz and the walk to the Marktplatz, a few minutes away.
Nearby
- Sterntor: the rebuilt city gate on Bottlerplatz, directly beside the street.
- Bonn Minster: the Romanesque minster with its tall central tower, a short walk south.
- Marktplatz and Old Town Hall: the market square with the pink Rococo town hall, a few minutes east.
- Beethoven House: the composer's birthplace on Bonngasse, now a museum, a short walk north-east.
See Bonn with World City Trail
Our Bonn scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 30 minutes of walking. It includes Bonn Minster and the Old Town Hall.
If you prefer a different format, Bonn also has a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game.
Play the Bonn scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Bonn →
Play the outdoor escape game in Bonn →
Facts checked in October 2026.