Büchen railway water tower
| Büchen railway water tower | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Data | |
| Construction year: | 1912 |
| Tower height: | 14.5 m |
| Usable height: | 12.8 m |
| Container type: | Two cylindrical containers |
| Volume of the container: | 100 m³ |
| Operating condition: | shut down |
| Original use: | Service and drinking water supply for the railways |
| Todays use: |
Demolition took place in July 2012 |
The former water tower of the Büchen station stood in the south of the station area, next to the track of the railway line leading to Lauenburg / Elbe .
Building
The three-storey brick building was divided by pilaster strips and brick friezes and had a flat hip roof covered with roofing felt . It stood on a rectangular floor plan and was not immediately recognizable as a water tower . What was clear, however, was the slightly protruding container floor typical of water towers. Here two cylindrical water tanks were housed next to each other, from which the elongated shape of the building was derived. The process water for the locomotives was stored in one container, the other served as a drinking water reservoir for the station buildings. The drinking water was drawn from a well in the south-east adjoining Quellenental railway settlement.
History of the water supply for the railway in Büchen
In 1846 the Berlin-Hamburg railway started operating. Büchen was the only major train station in Schleswig-Holstein. The railway line to Lübeck later branched off here.
The increasing demand for water by steam locomotives and the constantly growing volume of traffic made it necessary to build high-performance water towers and water stations. Initially, so-called water houses were built directly on the track, which supplied the locomotives with boiler water via a boom.
In 1886/87 a steam-powered pumping station was built with an octagonal water tower that could hold 150 m³ of water. This tower was in operation until 1973 and was demolished in 1974.
Another water station was built in 1912, which included the structure described above, which was called the New Water Tower . This system was also no longer needed in the 1970s. The lower floors served as an office and workshop for the signal fitters until 1990. After that, the building stood empty, and the window openings were closed with chipboard against vandalism. Demolition was initially delayed due to the costs, but the railway water tower was then demolished in July 2012.
See also
- List of water towers in Schleswig-Holstein
- Water tower Büchen, photo from the previous operating condition on www.wasserturm-galerie.de
literature
- Jens U. Schmidt: Water towers in Schleswig-Holstein. History and stories about the water supply in the north and its most striking buildings. Regia-Verlag, Cottbus 2008, ISBN 978-3-939656-71-5 .
Coordinates: 53 ° 28 ′ 24.6 " N , 10 ° 37 ′ 26.5" E