Book fountain

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The fountain house of the book fountain

The Buchbrunnen is a historic well and drinking water collector in the district of Wunsiedel in the Fichtelgebirge in Upper Franconia near the border with the Czech Republic. He is the source version of the Buchbach .

topography

The well house of the Buchbrunnen stands in the Bavarian state forests in the Kohlwald on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic , in the border section III 5 between the border crossing Schirnding and Waldsassen . It is located on the southwestern slope of the Oberkunreuther mountain , which has its highest elevation at 656 m above sea level. NN on Czech territory. After the forest management reform of July 1, 2005, the Waldsassen Forestry Company is responsible for the well.

Tri-border region

The area around the Buchbrunnen is known as the border triangle, as three politically independent rulers once met there. In a protocol from the 17th century it says: "The Buchbachlein rises from the Buch fountain in Kohlwald and separates such fountains from three Reynungen, Brandenburg, the Chur Pfaltz from Waldsassen and Eger."

In the past, natural features in the area such as springs, streams or larger rocks were used to mark a border. If these were not available, artificial marks were created, such as stone walls, depressions in the earth (raing trenches, flail pits) or an artificially raised mound (Schurf). Single standing, prominent trees received carved crosses (rain spruce, rain beech), particularly outstanding stones were carved with a cross. From the 18th century, boundary stones were set, often with coats of arms. In the course of the border between the Ameisenbühl near Schirnding and the Buchbrunnen, according to old tradition, there were seven stones with the Brandenburg and Egerian coats of arms and the year 1562. The Buchbrunnen with its source and with its small watercourse (Buchbächlein) was included in the border.

National border Bohemia / Czech Republic

At the Buchbrunnen there is the boundary stone with section number III 5. The massive stone with the engraved year "1844" is a historical boundary stone, but it still shows the current boundary. The letters “DB” for Germany Bavaria are chiseled, on the opposite side “CS”, whereby the S is illegible, for Česko-Slovenská. The upper part of the broad side was partially chiseled away and the new initials were attached there. It previously contained the inscription "K: Böhmen" and "K: Bayern" (K for Kingdom). After the First World War, these initials had to give way because they no longer corresponded to the political situation, the year was left unchanged.

The initials on the boundary stone are on the side facing the respective state, if the C is visible, you are on Czech territory.

Historical border between the Markgraftum and Prussia and Upper Palatinate

Another state border began at Buchbrunnen in the 15th century, running in a south-westerly direction, valid until 1810 and now the border between the administrative districts of Upper Franconia and Upper Palatinate. It was initially the border between the Burgraviate above the mountains (Margraviate Brandenburg-Kulmbach-Bayreuth) and the land of the Waldsassen monastery, the Principality of Upper Palatinate and finally Bavaria. From 1791 to 1806, Prussia and Bavaria were territorial neighbors there, although there had been constant "border errands" and border inspections for centuries. In a border treaty dated June 30, 1803, the course of the border was defined by both countries and marked with massive boundary stones. The boundary stones, which were set from the Buchbrunnen to the Groschlattengrün room , are partly still there and have various carvings. On the “Prussian side” the letters “Pr” (Prussia), on the “Bavarian side” the letters “PB” (Pfalz-Bayern), on the narrow side of the stone the consecutive number.

Drinking water for the city of Eger

When the population of the city of Eger grew rapidly between 1890 and 1910 , the city magistrate was forced to look for new sources of drinking water, not only in Bohemia. The Bavarian forest administration came to the rescue and acquired six sources in the Upper Palatinate corridors of the former municipalities of Münchenreuth and Pechtnersreuth (Tirschenreuth district). The Kingdom of Bavaria transferred these to the city of Eger. The background to the cross-border water exchange was that the cities of Waldsassen and Tirschenreuth had already received drinking water from the Egrian region of the Tillenberg . Six springs were taken on the Upper Palatinate side and the water was transported in pipelines towards Buchbrunnen, where other springs had previously been fed. From there, the Bavarian drinking water flowed across the border to Eger. In May 1912, the 14-kilometer-long system was put into operation.

Formally, the project was made possible by a decision from the Royal District Office of Tirschenreuth dated July 8, 1911. However, some engine owners who used the water power of this creek were damaged by the version of the springs and the resulting withdrawal of water from the Feisnitz . The engine owners of the Heiligenfurtermühle, Brandmühle, Dollermühle, Siglmühle, Lippertsmühle and Grünmühle received one-off compensation of 530 to 1510 marks from the city of Eger for the withdrawal of eight seconds of water. An amicable agreement was also reached with various landowners who saw their fishing rights or meadow watering impaired. They received one-off compensation between 20 and 150 marks.

The book fountain house stands on the source room of the book fountain; its construction was then requested by the Bavarian forest administration. The name "BUCHBRUNN" is written above the entrance of the brick house. To the left, on the German side of the building, the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria can be seen, to the right of the inscription on Czech territory the coat of arms of the city of Eger. Hikers can get drinking water from a tap in the building.

literature

  • Erwin Hofmann: Between Bavaria and Bohemia. Regensburg 1996.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Singer: The sanctuary. I 1985 and III 1986.
  • Kurt Zeidler: Extension of the Egerer Wasserleitung 191 2. In: Egerer Zeitung. February 1992, pp. 24-26.
  • Water supply of the city of Eger: Decision of the Kgl. District Office Tirschenreuth of July 8, 1911. No. 5464 (FGV library, file hydrology.)
  • Dietmar Herrmann: The book fountain in the tri-border region. In: The Seven Star. 2006, p. 141.

cards

Web links

Pictures from the book fountain

Coordinates: 50 ° 3 ′ 29 ″  N , 12 ° 15 ′ 40.8 ″  E