Hohenbudberg water tower

View from the Rheinaue

Information board

The Hohenbudberg water tower was built in 1915/1916 by the Prussian railway administration to supply the Hohenbudberg marshalling yard and the railroad settlement in Friemersheim . Today it is considered an industrial monument and is used as a studio, office and residential building.

description

The 35 meter high twin tower was planned by the Munich architects and contractors Gebrüder Rank . In the upper third it has two storage tanks made of reinforced concrete , each with a capacity of 500 cubic meters, arranged side by side . They rest on two round tower shafts made of brickwork. The roof is also made of reinforced concrete. Since parts of the storage tank have moved into the roof space, the two containers look like one unit from the outside.

In 1965 the water tower was taken out of service and the age of steam locomotives was over. The building fell into disrepair over time and had to be cordoned off because of falling parts. As a technical monument, however, it should be preserved as far as possible, so that the Cologne Federal Railway Directorate and the Rhenish Office for Monument Preservation decided in 1978 to give the tower away for the symbolic purchase price of DM 1. An architect took over the tower and renovated it.

The storage tanks with the stairways were retained, the roof was re-covered and the facade cleaned. Several apartments were set up in the towers, some of which are now also used as offices. Studios are now on the ground floor, where there used to be a pump and switch room. The empty water tanks temporarily serve as a music rehearsal room. In the 1970s, there was a small café in the basement.

Individual evidence

↑ Newspaper clipping ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 125 kB) from Tagesspiegel of November 9, 1978@1@ 2

↑ Magazine excerpt ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 295 kB) from Schöner Wohnen from February 1984