Editing Holstentor (section)

=== Demolition and restoration in the 19th century ===
In the course of industrialization, the fortifications were considered to be only annoying obstacles. In 1808 the second outer Holsten Gate was demolished, in 1828 the inner Holsten Gate, and in 1853 the outer Holsten Gate. It was then considered to be only as a matter of time before the Middle Holsten Gate, the only remaining of the four gates, would be torn down. Indeed, in 1855, Lübeck citizens petitioned the Senate to finally demolish the remaining gate, since it hindered the extension of the railway facilities. This petition had 683 signatures.
[[File:Holstentor 03.jpg|thumb|The Holsten Gate around 1900. Looking west at the gate's eastern side, which faces Lübeck's old city centre ("city side")]]
However, there was at that time also growing resistance to the destruction of old buildings. 
Thus August Reichensperger wrote in 1852, "Even Lübeck, once the proud head of the Hanseatic League, does not seem able to endure the reflection of its former glory. It maims, crops and covers up so assiduously that "modern Enlightenment" will soon have nothing to be ashamed of any more".<ref>{{citation
|surname1=August Reichensperger
|title=Die christlich-germanische Baukunst und ihr Verhältniß zur Gegenwart 
|publisher=Fr. Lintz
|publication-place=Trier

|pages=85, Anm. 2
|date=  1845
|language=German
}}</ref> When King Frederick William IV of Prussia heard of this, he sent Prussia's then-curator of historic monuments, Ferdinand von Quast, to salvage whatever could be saved.<ref name="Dziobek">[[Infanterie-Regiment "Lübeck" (3. Hanseatisches) Nr. 162#Offiziere|Otto Dziobek]]: [[Infanterie-Regiment "Lübeck" (3. Hanseatisches) Nr. 162|Geschichte des Infanterie-Regiments Lübeck (3. hanseatisches) Nr. 162]]; erste Auflage 1922, im Zusammenhang mit dem [[Quast (Adelsgeschlecht)#Namensträger|General v. Quast]] und der Bedeutung der ''v. Quasts'' für Lübeck</ref>

Controversy over the demolition went on for a long time. A decision was made only in 1863 when the Lübeck citizens decided by a majority of just one vote not to demolish the building but to instead extensively restore it. Meanwhile, the gate was in very bad condition, since every year it had sunk a few centimetres further into the ground. The lowest loopholes were already 50 centimetres below ground, and the inclination of the entire gate was beginning to be dangerous. This drastically altered the statics of the building, so that its collapse was feared. The Holsten Gate was thoroughly restored, with work continuing into 1871.

Afterwards there was a change in the relationship of the Lübeck population to the Holsten Gate. It was no longer perceived as a troublesome ruin, but as a symbol of a proud past. In 1925, the German Association of Cities made the Holstentor its symbol. As early as 1901, the marzipan manufacturer [[Niederegger]] used the Holsten gate in its company trademark. Other Lübeck companies did the same.