Caspar Walter

Caspar Walter

Caspar Walter (born February 27, 1701 in Augsburg ; † January 6, 1769 there ) was the most important fountain master in Augsburg. He improved and expanded the water art in Augsburg, especially with the waterworks at the Red Gate . His main written work Hydraulica Augustana (1754) is considered a pioneering, comprehensive handbook of all aspects of water art.

Life

Caspar Walter was born in Augsburg as the son of the Protestant carpenter Caspar Walter the Elder. Ä. (1661–1741) and his wife Euphrosina geb. Born Wörner. Like his father, he first learned to be a carpenter and then worked as a fountain worker in the city. The craft of the fountain master's workshop emerged from the carpentry trade, as a large part of the technology - water wheels, water pumps and also the pipelines ( drawbars ) - were made of wood.

With the goldsmith daughter Maria Magdalena geb. Mair, whom he married in 1722, had six children with Walter. In 1728 Walter held the post of chairman in the lower fountain works. On August 20, 1736 he received the master's license. After he had proven his skills at the Lower Fountain Works, the city made him its “City Fountain and Sworn Official Werck Master” in 1741. In this position, Walter brought the Augsburger Brunnenwerke to such an outstanding new status in the following decades that they became a landmark throughout the empire.

Caspar Walter wrote 16 papers on technical and economic issues in his field of work, among which the Hydraulica Augustana (1754) plays the most prominent role. He also had 25 true-to-scale technical models made from wood, some of which are still in the model chamber of the Maximilian Museum today , as well as panel paintings and copper engravings that were engraved according to his preliminary drawings. The wooden models had the practical purpose of explaining the precise work steps on the three-dimensional model to the craftsmen involved in repairs and extensions.

In 1768 Walter retired after 27 years of service. He died the following year and was buried in the "Upper Evangelical Church of God", today's Protestant cemetery . His tomb has not been preserved.

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  Double spiral staircase by Caspar Walter (1742)

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  Title page of Hydraulica Augustana by Caspar Walter (1754)

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  The waterworks at the Red Gate (1766)

literature

• Clemens Alois Baader: WALTER (Kaspar) , in: Encyclopedia of deceased baierischer writer achtzehenten and neunzehenten century band 1.2: M - Z . Jenisch and Stage, Augsburg 1824
• Wilhelm Ruckdeschel, Klaus Luther: Technical monuments in Augsburg. A guided tour through the city . Brigitte Settele Verlag, Augsburg 1984.
• Entry in the Augsburg city dictionary

Web links

Commons : Caspar Walter  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wilhelm Ruckdeschel, Klaus Luther: Technical monuments in Augsburg. A guided tour through the city . ? Edition. Brigitte Settele Verlag, Augsburg 1984, p. 23 ff .