Old crane (Lüneburg)

Overall situation crane in the port

The old crane (spelling earlier also Krahn ) is a historical harbor crane at the former Ilmenau harbor in Lüneburg . The crane, built in 1797, which was one of the most powerful in northern Germany at the time, still shapes the image of the water district and is one of the city's landmarks .

technology

Construction plan

Mechanics inside

The crane is made of carrying wood truss- constructed, which was provided with a weather protection panel boards; the roof areas are covered with copper plates . The lower part with a circular floor plan (diameter: eight meters) is fixed. The upper part with the crane boom is rotatable (similar to a Dutch windmill ). Four sandstone blocks, each weighing around 200 kg, serve as a counterweight to the load. The chain winch in the upper part is driven by a 9 m high vertical shaft , this in turn by a double treadle with a 5 m diameter in the lower part.

In 1977 a replica was built at the Hanseatic harbor in Stade , which today serves as an information center for the history of Stade; a second, fully functional replica is in the hoist museum in Witten in North Rhine-Westphalia.

history

A crane at the location of today's crane at the Lüneburg harbor is first mentioned in a document in 1330. In addition to lifting other goods, it was primarily used to operate the Lüneburg saltworks , namely on the one hand to send the salt produced there (especially via the Stecknitz Canal to Lübeck, but also to other cities) and on the other hand to land the firewood that was used to operate the brewhouses was needed. The crane shared the work with the smaller winches of the neighboring warehouse (then Heringshaus , now called Altes Kaufhaus ). In an ordinance of the Lüneburg City Council, it was specified which goods were to be lifted by which crane and which fees ("crane money") were to be paid for this.

Historical photo (around 1900)

The original crane has been modified and expanded over the centuries. The crane has existed in its current form almost unchanged since 1797. In the winter of 1795, many structures in the harbor were badly damaged by floods with ice drifts , including the crane and the neighboring bridge. The crane was rebuilt in the summer of 1797 by the carpenter GP Hintze under the direction of the agricultural manager Kruse .

On August 13, 1840, the crane lifted its heaviest load ashore: a steam locomotive for the Duke Braunschweigische Staatseisenbahn , built in England by George Forrester & Company and transported to Germany by water. The weight of the locomotive was estimated at up to 60 pounds (approx. 9.3 tons). The strength of 38 people was required to turn the treadmill. As a stress test, a package of 80 railroad tracks weighing about 20,000 pounds was previously lifted. Two years earlier, the crane had lifted a lighter locomotive weighing around 14,000 pounds.

With the construction of the Hamburg-Hanover railway line , which reached Lüneburg in 1847, the transport of goods from and to Lüneburg shifted from inland waterways to rail within a short time. As a result, the port and with it the crane rapidly lost its importance. In 1860 the crane ceased operations for economic reasons (although it was still technically intact).