Until today there are more than 200 half-timbered buildings dating from the 13th to 16th centuries in Esslingen’s Old Town. In Esslingen, for example one can find the oldest row of half-timbered houses in Germany, the Old Town Hall with its Renaissance facade by Heinrich Schickhardt and its famous Glockenspiel, the imposing Esslingen "Burg", the old city gate towers such as "Wolfstor" and "Pliensauturm" and many former "Pfleghöfe" (administrative monastic buildings) and imposing churches. Each and every one of them is proof of civil pride and the town’s prosperity.