Mølleporten, Stege’s Medieval Mill Gate

A rare medieval gateway into Stege’s past

Mølleporten rises at the eastern edge of Stege, a compact four-storey gate tower built in the late 1400s when the town was encircled by ramparts, walls and moat. Its name, “The Mill Gate”, recalls the windmills that once turned outside the town on Møllemarken, where farmers arrived with grain and goods. Passing beneath the arch today, you step into the same line of approach that merchants, soldiers and traders used more than five centuries ago. Only two medieval town gates survive in Denmark, and Mølleporten is the eastern counterpart to Faaborg’s Vesterport. That rarity gives this modest structure national significance. It was the checkpoint where goods were inspected, taxes collected and nighttime entry controlled, part of a defensive system that once made Stege one of the best-fortified market towns in the kingdom.

Brick stripes, stout walls and a storytelling tower

Architecturally, Mølleporten is a study in late medieval craft. The façade is built in alternating bands of deep red monk brick and pale limestone, echoing the pattern of nearby Stege Church. The lower courses carry broader, closer-set white stripes that make the base feel extra solid, while the upper levels appear lighter and more decorative. Granitic guard stones flank the gateway, reminders of wagon wheels and hooves that once scraped past. Above, a steep pyramidal tiled roof crowns the tower, likely a later addition that replaced an open gallery with pinnacles. Circular blindings and iron wall anchors add texture to the east and west faces, while small openings puncture the thick walls. Inside, timber beams and wooden floors divide the four levels, creating a sequence of rooms that once served very different purposes.

From prison cells to carefully saved monument

By the 17th century, the military importance of the fortifications had declined, but the tower found a darker use. An inscription with the year 1674 marks a renovation when the upper floor was converted into a small prison, part of what local history calls “the evil time,” when hardship and conflict marked daily life. Later centuries brought neglect more than drama, and by the 1800s the structure had deteriorated so badly that demolition was seriously planned. In 1870s debates the gate narrowly escaped being torn down, and at the end of the 19th century it was finally protected as a historic monument. That decision ensured its survival into the modern era, but for a long time the interior remained closed and unused. The building stood as a symbolic gateway and town emblem rather than a lived experience of the Middle Ages.

Meticulous restoration and new life inside the tower

A major restoration project completed in the mid-2020s transformed Mølleporten from closed relic to accessible monument. Specialists stabilised the masonry, reworked the roof and carefully reset damaged stones. The surrounding street level was lowered to reveal the original base and give the gate a more authentic stance on the rampart line. New internal stairs and landings thread up through the tower, allowing visitors to explore safely without hiding the historic structure. The renovation also reconnected the gate to the broader story of Stege’s defences. Interpretive panels and simple exhibition elements introduce the ramparts, moat and former town walls, turning the tower into a compact museum of urban fortification. From the upper level you can look out over the remains of the earthwork, the water and the red roofs of Stege, reading the landscape as medieval defenders would once have done.

A walkable link between town, rampart and countryside

Mølleporten is not just an isolated monument but part of a longer green thread that encircles the town. The adjacent rampart and former moat now form a pleasant walking route where the defensive earthwork doubles as a raised path in a band of trees and grass. As you move along it, the gate appears and disappears between branches, its striped façade a constant point of orientation. For visitors, the experience is as much about atmosphere as about facts: cobblestones underfoot in the passage, cool air in the shadowed interior, the sudden openness of views from the windows. It is an easy stop to combine with a stroll through Stege’s historic streets and harbourfront, yet it quietly delivers one of Denmark’s most tangible encounters with a fortified medieval town.