But three years later this imperious leader was checked by the heroic resistance of the " Maiden " fortress of Magdeburg; though two years later still she lost her reputation, and suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of Tilly's lawless and unlicensed soldiery.
In 1631 the town was taken by Tilly, and in 1632 by Gustavus Adolphus.
At one end this street is terminated by the Siegestor, while at the other is the Feldherrenhalle (or hall of the marshals), a copy of the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence, containing statues of Tilly and Wrede by Schwanthaler.
The latter is a beautiful Renaissance structure, with a magnificent facade and a delicate spire, and contains a grand hall, the Kaisersaal, in which every Whit Monday a play, Der Meistertrunk, which commemorates the capture of the town by Tilly in 1631, is performed.
In 1631 Rothenburg was stormed by Tilly, and the cup of wine presented by the burgomaster, which, according to tradition, saved the town from destruction, is annually commemorated in the play mentioned above.