Bitter fountain
The Bittersbrunnen is a spring- fed fountain on the Heiligenberg near Heidelberg . The fountain was used in prehistoric times , but lost its importance around the year 1000. After a landslide in the second half of the 20th century had destroyed the last remains of the old well, a new well system was built on the historic site in 1979/80.
location
The fountain is located on the northwest slope of the Heiligenberg at 358 meters above sea level , significantly higher than the Rhine plain and the Neckar valley , which surround the Heiligenberg on two sides, and only 80 meters below the upper mountain peak.
history
The Heiligenberg is the oldest and most important prehistoric settlement on the lower Neckar. For a long time, the spring on its northern slope was the only source of water on the mountain, so it was probably known and used since the beginning of human use of the mountain. An ancient path to the hilltop leads directly past the fountain.
At the time of the urn field culture around 1000 BC There was a larger settlement on the Heiligenberg, which is proven by numerous broken fragments. In addition to cisterns in which people collected rainwater , the Bittersbrunnen also served as a water supply. At the time of the Celts , the Heiligenberg was around 450 BC. Became the political center of the lower Neckar valley. On its summit there was now an extensive settlement surrounded by two ring walls. In the area of the spring, the lower ring wall was arched around the spring so that it was within the defensive area and secured the water supply even in the event of a siege. The name Bittersbrunnen probably goes back to the Celtic root word bit (for ever ), but not to bitter water. The Bittersbrunnen was still an important source of water in Roman times and in Franconian times when the forerunners of the Michaelskloster were built . When the monastery was built in its later form in 1023, the pouring of the spring was probably already weak, which is why another spring was used at the White Stone and its water was led to a scoop at the monastery with clay pipes. The bitter fountain lost its central importance for the mountain, its still moderately bubbling water refreshed mainly pilgrims on the way to the monastery and later hikers in the following centuries.
With its changing use over the centuries, the Heiligenberg was not always forested, so that the area around the Bittersbrunnen was constantly changed not only by human interference, but also by washings and erosion. The gently sliding slope and, above all, a falling tree have shattered the spring catchment over time.
In an archaeological investigation by Berndmark Heukemes and Jean Pelosse in 1957, the Bittersbrunnen still showed a remnant of a Romanesque vaulted well that was 1.20 meters high, 1.06 meters wide and 1.80 meters deep into the slope. Right in front of the vault, a 3-meter-long, narrow water catchment basin was exposed. About 20 meters from the well, another collecting basin with a base area of 2.00 × 1.30 meters and a depth of 1.60 meters was uncovered. This basin had been filled since around the year 1000, so it was probably abandoned in connection with the construction of the water pipe from the White Stone.
In the same investigation in 1957 below the well, a several-meter-thick layer of shards of broken clay vessels from different centuries was uncovered in the drainage channel. The excavation took place to a depth of three meters, only medieval shards were recovered, while older findings were even deeper and thus inaccessible.
Until the 1970s, the well was completely destroyed and buried in a landslide. The catch basin in front of it fell victim to an embankment when the forest path was expanded.
A reconstruction of the fountain began in 1979 under the direction of Diether Frauenfeld . The slope that had slipped was exposed and the remains of the old spring version were found. In their place a new vaulted well was built with a small collecting basin, which is drained with a pipe under the heaped path in front of it. The city of Heidelberg, the State Forestry Office and the Heiligenberg Protection Association each borne a third of the construction costs of DM 20,000. Despite the new version, the filling of the well is still low and is just enough to keep the collecting basin filled. The reconstructed fountain was inaugurated on May 3, 1980 by Mayor Korz.
The fountain is populated by golden algae , which make the collecting basin shimmer golden in summer.
literature
- Berndmark Heukemes : Archaeologists are researching the Bitter Fountain. In: District Association Handschuhsheim e. V. Yearbook 1990 , Heidelberg 1990, pp. 9-11.
- Ludwig Merz : secrets about sources. In: District Association Handschuhsheim e. V. Yearbook 1990 , Heidelberg 1990, pp. 13-15.
- Diether Frauenfeld : The restoration of the bitter fountain. In: District Association Handschuhsheim e. V. Yearbook 1990 , Heidelberg 1990, p. 17.
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 25 '38.1 " N , 8 ° 42' 12.7" E