The Waterloo Gate — Waterloo-Tor — is an early nineteenth-century memorial arch built to commemorate the soldiers from Osnabrück who fought at Waterloo in 1815 as part of the British King's German Legion. It stands at the western edge of the old town, one of several historic gates and towers that survive from the city's earlier fortification system. The arch itself is neoclassical, modest in scale but well-proportioned, and carries inscriptions recording the names of those who died.
The King's German Legion was one of the more unusual military formations of the Napoleonic period: a British Army unit composed almost entirely of soldiers from the former Kingdom of Hanover, which had been occupied by France. When Hanover was occupied, many of its soldiers made their way to Britain to continue fighting, and the Legion they formed served with distinction in Spain and at Waterloo. Osnabrück contributed a significant number of its men, and the gate reflects genuine civic pride in their service rather than imported military fashion.