Zwestener sources

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Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 49 ″  N , 9 ° 10 ′ 53 ″  E

Map: Hessen
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Zwestener sources​
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Hesse
Drinking lesson at the fountain temple

The Zwestener sources are a closely spaced group of five mineral springs and two fresh water springs in Bad Zwesten in Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse . They form the basis for the upswing of the place as a spa and climatic health resort. They became known nationwide through the marketing of the "Zwestener Löwensprudels" from 1922 to 2010.

Geographical location

The springs are located in or near the so-called Löwensprudelpark, at 200  m above sea level. NN Höhe, immediately east of the state road L 3074 from the core town of Zwesten to Niederurff , about 400 m south of the confluence of the B 485 into the B 3 and the local development boundary of Zwesten.

The operating ditch of the Keilmühle , located around 450 m east-northeast, runs around 350 m east and the Schwalm, which flows through the Löwensteiner Grund from south to north, around 500 m east .

history

It has been known for centuries that mineral water from several springs came to light in a swampy area southeast of the village on the road to Niederurff . The water was used less as drinking water , but more as a drinking place for sheep and geese. In earlier centuries, the spring area also served as a popular rest stop on the old Kassel - Frankfurt trade route , which today runs as Bundesstraße 3 between the source area and the core town of Bad Zwesten. It is said that the Grimm brother Ludwig Emil Grimm stayed at the "Suerborn" (Zwesten dialect for "Sauerbrunnen") in 1824 . The first documentary mention of the source can be found on a map from 1769.

In 1912/13 the first drillings were carried out at the spring, which had dried up due to faults, and the first analysis of the spring water. In 1914, the first stone was the source version to a depth of 20 meters applied; At a depth of 8 meters, the remains of an earlier enclosure made of hollow oak trunks were found. A first spring canopy on four pillars was also built. From 1922 this source was used economically. The community leased them to the company "Zwestener Löwensprudel GmbH", newly founded by Hans Schäfer from Zwesten and the pharmacist Georg Albes from Treysa for this purpose. The "Löwenquelle", the company and the products of the bottling plant were named after the name of the nearby castle ruin Löwenstein .

The Well Temple (2007)
Interior of the Fountain Temple (2007)

The first holiday guests came to Zwesten from 1925. During this time, on Hans Schäfer's initiative, work began on transforming the damp source area into a small park , today's “Kurpark am Löwensprudel”. The fountain temple was completed in 1926. In 1929 the newly founded traffic and beautification association set up the first park benches in the spa gardens. The first drinking lessons were offered in the morning and afternoon with music in the fountain temple in 1932, after clinical evidence of the composition of the water had been recognized by the Prussian Minister for Labor, Public Welfare and Health Care as "non-profit".

Tourism came to a standstill in autumn 1941 due to the Second World War ; It was not until 1955/56 that the first guests came to attend the drinking lessons. In 1960, an expert report confirmed that the spring water had medicinal properties for diseases of the stomach , gall bladder , liver , intestines and urinary tract ; The Löwenquelle then became a state-recognized medicinal spring and the Zwestener Löwensprudel GmbH received approval for bottling as medicinal water. In 1963 Zwesten became a state-approved resort.

In the years 1961 to 1971 further boreholes were carried out to a depth of 10 m, which uncovered further sources. In total, seven artesian springs with partially completely different mineral contents and water qualities from different depths come to light in the Löwensprudelpark on an area of ​​only 2.5 hectares . In addition to the healing spring to be developed first, there are three other mineral water springs, two drinking water sources and the so-called quicksand source:

  • The “Zwestener Löwenquelle” medicinal water spring in the well temple, where the water can be drawn from a tap and where drinking hours take place in the summer months, has a discharge of 120 to 144 m³ / day from a water vein at a depth of approx. 22 m. Today the water for the spa guests is pumped into the spa house and the Hardtwald clinics through a medicinal water pipe built by the community in 1972 .
  • The "Kellerwaldquelle" is the next oldest. It was the main source for the "Löwensprudel", which was sold throughout Germany from 1922 to 2010.
  • The low-sodium mineral water from the "Kurparkquelle" was also used for bottling the soda.
  • From the water of the "Olanta spring" the yellow lion fountain with orange extract was made, which tasted like Fanta .
Spring pond of the quicksand spring
  • The "quicksand spring" rising from a depth of 25 m, around 50 meters west of the well temple, is not enclosed due to its special geological structure. It forms a shallow spring pond with an overflow drain to the nearby Schwalm. From a wooden bridge that crosses the pond, you can watch the spring whirling up the sand at the bottom of the pond. The quicksand spring and the healing spring in the well temple appear all year round with a water temperature of twelve degrees Celsius ; This is why the water in the draining ditch, called Sauerbrunnen on old maps, and in the Schwalm at the mouth of the ditch does not freeze over, even in the coldest winters.
  • Not that spectacular, but one of the most important sources is the drinking water source, which supplies the core town of Bad Zwesten with water.

Lion fountain marketing

As early as 1922, the marketing of the spring water of the Löwenquelle, now called "Alte Löwenquelle", began under the name "Zwestener Löwensprudel". 1 million bottles were sold in 1936. After a war-related interruption and a new start in the post-war period, a dynamic expansion began after the state recognition as medicinal water in 1960 , and in 1969 more than 7 million bottles were filled.

Bottling plant at the Kurpark am Löwensprudel (2008)
Delivery vehicle of the Löwensprudel brand (2008)

In 2005, however, the company had to file for bankruptcy, and as a result, several changing owners tried to revive the business. In 2006 the “Diakoniegesellschaft Baunataler Werkstätten” took over the company in order to develop an integration company for disabled people. With the help of funding from the State Welfare Association of Hesse , investments were made in a new bottling plant, and operations were maintained as "Bad Zwestener Quellen Baunataler Integrationsbetriebe gGMBH". In order to provide new impetus in sales, three different brands of mineral water drinks were sold in addition to medicinal water from 2008, each aimed at a different target group : "Bad Zwestener Löwensprudel" for health-conscious people, "Kellerwald Mineralbrunnen" for families and "Kurpark-Quelle" as "Lifestyle" water. In addition, the brand “aqa ad vinum 1 3 5” (“water for wine 1 3 5”) was launched in 2008 with a view to the target group of wine connoisseurs. But already in December 2010 the "Baunataler Diakonie Kassel" announced in 2007 through the merger of the Baunataler Werkstätten eV with the Diakonie Wohnstätten eV that it would withdraw from the Bad Zwestener sources at the end of the year. Operations then ceased in spring 2011.

In 2012, the small "Energiehandels- und Beratungsgesellschaft mbH" (EHG mbH) from Bad Krozingen bought the company. The intention was for the “Bad Zwestener Quellen EHG mbH” to fill and market both the Zwesten spring water and the fashion drink Bubble Tea . Significant advertising was put in place to increase sales. "Bad Zwestener Löwensprudel" and "Kurpark-Quelle" were touted in the versions "classic" and "medium" and "Kellerwald mineral water" was supposed to come in eight different flavors. This attempted new beginning was unsuccessful, as was the following episode with the "Zwestener Löwensprudel GmbH & Co. KG Heil- und Mineralbrunnen", which went bankrupt in 2015 . Since then, the healing spring has only been used by the local spa clinics and to feed the spa.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ closed in 1960; then generation of electricity by means of a turbine and use as a riding stables. ( Keilmühle (Bruchmühle), Schwalm-Eder-Kreis. Historical local lexicon for Hesse. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).).
  2. ↑ In 1992 the community became a health resort with the title medicinal bath and the addition of "bath" to the name. In 2012, the rating was changed to "Heilquellenkurbbetrieb und Luftkurort".
  3. ↑ New tourist signs in the Kurpark am Löwensprudel, at nordhessennews.de, August 15, 2014 ( Memento from February 18, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Where the springs gush: 100 Years of the Heilquelle , in: HNA , 23 August 2014
  5. ^ Electorate of Hesse 1840-1861 - 41.Borken. Historical maps. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  6. ↑ Effect of the lion fudge , in: HNA , June 6, 2014
  7. ↑ Where the springs gush: 100 Years of the Heilquelle , in: HNA , 23 August 2014
  8. ↑ Horizont online: Rumblefish revised Bad Zwestener Quellen , February 8, 2008
  9. ↑ The numbers 1, 3, 5 stood for the respective number of grams of carbonic acid per liter and the waters should therefore go well with different wines. ( For excellent taste experiences - aQa ad vinum 1 3 5 - the new water for wine , March 27, 2009 )
  10. ↑ Diakonie turns the tap off Löwensprudel , at nh24.de, December 31, 2010 ( Memento from February 18, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Diakonie closes Bad Zwestener Quellen - Buyers wanted , Lokalo24.de, January 5, 2011
  12. ↑ Bubble tea should help Zwestener Sprudel to become modern , in: HNA , July 7, 2012
  13. ↑ Kellerwald mineral water "classic", Kellerwald mineral water "medium", Kellerwald Sport Grape Iso, Kellerwald orange lemonade, Kellerwald apple spritzer, Kellerwald lemon fruit juice drink, Kellerwald lemon lemonade and Kellerwald apple red fruit spritzer ([www.badzwestenerquellen. de / _xml / data.xml Bad Zwestener Quellen, water for every taste ]).
  14. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Insolvency Löwensprudel )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.insolvenzdatenbank.info

Web links

Commons : Zwestener Quellen  - collection of images, videos and audio files