Alter Kranen (Würzburg)
The Alte Kranen is a baroque harbor crane with a double jib from 1773 on the crane quay named after it in Würzburg on the right bank of the Main west of the Julius promenade.
History and meaning
The baroque construction of the crane system equipped with a city wall gate, called Würzburger Kranen or Mainkranen at the time , was ordered by Prince-Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim to revive the Main trade by Franz Ignaz Michael Neumann , the son of the famous Baroque architect and builder Balthasar Neumann , 1767–1773 built on the Kranenkai am Main and commissioned at the beginning of September 1773. In contrast to its counterparts in Andernach am Rhein and Trier an der Mosel , which were in use for 350 and 497 years and 126 years respectively, the Würzburg crane was only in operation for 73 years until 1846 and was then replaced by an iron crane 50 m down the Main, which also ceased operations in 1922. The old crane with its completely intact mechanism survived the Second World War unscathed, although more than 80 percent of Würzburg was destroyed in the process. At the beginning of the 20th century it was used again for a short time (loading timber).
A “crane” was planned as early as the 16th century; Canon Sigmund Fuchs von Wonfurt bequeathed 300 guilders to the two mayors of the city on March 26, 1571 "for the bank development of a crane". It took a while to win the mason Jakob Amann as town builder, but the building materials provided, especially the wood, were swept away by the ice and the floods in 1572, and bank reinforcement and crane construction literally fell into the water.
Today's crane was not the first design. At first they thought of a round stone crane similar to the market-wide crane , standing free on the Niederkai. Another plan envisaged a port crane with Corinthian pilasters and cornice decorated frustoconical (85 °) stone house, comparable to the Hamburg port crane from the 17th century, whose conical roof (fixed and rotatable part: 65 °) with jib (40 °) is that of today Stader salt crane was similar. In the end, today's version with integration into the bank reinforcement prevailed, first with one, then with two jibs.
The Alte Kranen as an outstanding river bank mark also measures the Main level of Würzburg and is provided with a level bar and high water marks. It represents a rare industrial, architectural and economic monument from the Baroque period with a functional mechanism and reminds of the importance of the Main trade for Würzburg. It is also the only double jib crane with two catenary systems and is architecturally the most beautiful of the remaining stone cranes. Even back then, contemporaries called it "a sight that is hard to see on the Main and Rhine, a work that is unparalleled in terms of beauty, strength, size and majesty."
Description and function
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It is a stepping stone tower crane with a crane building diameter of 10.2 m and the same height as a crane building, built into the corner bastion of the bank reinforcement system (see below) as a truncated conical circular building. It is accessible from the Hochkai through a door opposite the coat of arms, flanked by two high barred windows, and through the main entrance at ground level from the crane passage under the quay. The slightly concave, fixed bell roof stump is closed off by the copper-covered bell roof cap that can be rotated through 360 ° and has a double jib (11 m and 14 m, both with a chain , simple pulley system and hook) (broken bell roof). Due to the cantilever geometry that fills the top of the roof, there is no roof closure such as a tower ball or spike; six round dormer windows provide additional light. The entire roof structure rests on the end of the crane building and sixteen oak beams with reinforcements attached to the inside wall of the crane building. Two powerful pedal bikes with a diameter of 5.2 m and a width of 1.45 m form the drive. Both brackets consist of four oak support beams clad with copper sheet along with two or one support beam and seven or four bracket struts on each side of the bracket. The upper part of the crane including the load (1.2 tons (short boom) plus 1 ton (long boom)) was rotated over a horizontal oak beam ( drawbar ), which was supported by the vertical, central crane column (0.55 m ⌀, also known as the "emperor tree") ) runs below the wheels and protrudes on both sides. This rotating beam has a wheel installed in the lower end of the outer supports, which runs in a stone guide groove in the floor of the crane building. Two winch men per pedal bike ( cyclist , of the loaders ' guild , also called Kärrner in Würzburg ; they were also responsible for goods storage and forwarding work) to lift and lower the loads, and more for heavy loads (sometimes the additional crane worker grabbed from outside into the wheel spokes), another two to four men to turn the upper part. A sworn crane master managed the loading process, coordinated the work and commanded the men. The crane keeper's house that towered over the high quay wall was formerly located above the staircase on the crane until the beginning of the 20th century. There were warehouses next to the crane. An old cobbled street, the former Kärrnergasse, led through it.
To protect against flooding , the crane was erected near the Oberzollhof in a hill-like bend in the elevated bank reinforcement, the Hochkai , which also functions as a city wall (with a heavily fortified crane gate), so that at the same time Main ships on the Niederkai, the Main bank, and carts on the Hochkai could be loaded and unloaded. A large warehouse stood behind the crane until 1945. A chronostitch of the crane under the coat of arms in Latin : "accipio trado quod libet expedio" promised earlier: "I receive, hand over what I like, [and] transport [it]"; (the writing is in the form: 'aCCIpIo traDo qVoDL Vbet eXpeDIo' to show the year "1773": CCIIDVDLVXDI results in an orderly manner: DDDCCLXVVIII, from this with DD = M and VV = X the correct spelling: MDCCLXXIII = 1773)
The coat of arms of Prince-Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim, who himself had initiated the construction to promote the main freight traffic, flanked by the gods Franconia (patron goddess and personification of Franconia ) with racing flag and Moenus (river god and river Main) is embedded in the crane wall facing the Main.
Use as a meeting point
Due to the favorable central location directly on the Main and a number of seating areas and restaurants located there, the Alte Kranen is a popular meeting place today, especially in the summer months.
See also
literature
- Hans-Liudger Dienel , Wolfgang Meighörner: The Tretradkran . In the series: History of Technology (publications by the Deutsches Museum ), Munich 1995 and 1997; ISBN 3-924183-33-3
- Thomas Memminger: Würzburg's streets and buildings. A contribution to local history . 2. verb. u. Probably edition, Würzburg 1921
- Bruno Rottenbach: Würzburg street names. Volume 1, Franconian Society Printing Office, Würzburg 1967, p. 6 f. ( Old cranes ).
- Monika Stöckl: Fixed harbor cranes: Crane buildings from the 15th to 18th centuries on the Rhine, Main and Moselle ; Term paper for obtaining the academic degree of a Magister Artium. University Press, Mainz 1986
- Erwin Suppinger: The old Main Bridge and the old Main Crane in Würzburg . Konrad Triltsch Verlag, Würzburg 1928
Individual evidence
- ^ Bruno Rottenbach: Würzburg street names. Volume 1, 1967, p. 7.
- ↑ Erwin Suppinger: The old Main Bridge and the old Main Crane in Würzburg . Konrad Triltsch Verlag, Würzburg 1928; P. 30
- ^ Thomas Memminger: Würzburgs streets and buildings. A contribution to local history . Wuerzburg 1921
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 47 ′ 45.8 " N , 9 ° 55 ′ 33.59" E