Donar spring (Geismar)

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The fountain house, 2017
Interior of the fountain hall, 2017

The Donar spring, also called "Sauerbrunnen" because of the iron-rich and sour taste of its water, is a mineral spring northwest of the Fritzlar district of Geismar in the Schwalm-Eder district in North Hesse . It is located in the winding Elbe valley at 191 m above sea level on the L 3214 state road to Züschen , just before the former border between the Landgraviate of Hesse and the County of Waldeck .

The source

It belongs to the earthy acidulous that in the border zones between the relay Kellerwald and the Lower Hessian Depression occur and flow through the Paleozoic basement rocks and the younger overlying strata. Today the spring serves as a public tap for drinking. Any brown coloration of the water is due to its natural iron content.

Today the spring pours out 2–3 liters per minute. Your water contains 1730 milligrams / liter of carbon dioxide (carbonic acid). It contains minerals (in milligrams per liter):

Cations :

Anions :

history

The calendar of the St. Petri-Stift in Fritzlar records fields in 1360 that were located at the “Heiligenburn”. The name Heiligenbrunnen survived until the early modern period: Heiligenborn (1368), Heilgenborn (around 1390 and around 1450). They were later called "surborn", "sawerborne" and "saurnnborn" (1579). Finally, it was given the name "Donarquelle", probably for marketing reasons.

The residents of the area have been using the spring since prehistoric times, and it was already being used in a “curative” manner in the late Middle Ages. 1705–1710 the fountain was redesigned, surrounded with ashlar in the square and provided with a stone bench. Around 1750 the quality of the water was proven; the source received attention from medical experts and was then recommended for the treatment of various diseases with regular scientific examination.

In 1768 the well doctor Ph. Otto Cunz from Kassel submitted a detailed report to Landgrave Friedrich II of Hessen-Kassel , whereupon a number of structural improvements were made in the following years at the instigation of the authorities.

The former inn at the Donar spring

First, in 1769, the well shaft was excavated to a depth of about 3 m, a better well surround, the construction of a protective roof and the construction of a drainage channel. In 1778 Conrad Moench published his description and chemical investigations of the village of Geißmarischen Mineral-Brunnens in Kassel . Additional improvements were made from 1777 to 1782, starting with another redesign of the fountain. In 1780/81, the octagonal fountain hall, which still exists today, was built from plastered half-timbering and an inn opposite to the north with a bathing establishment, bathtubs and farm buildings. The surroundings were planted with trees and ornamental shrubs to make their stay more pleasant for the guests who mostly spend the night in Geismar and Züschen. War veterans were employed as well masters and received a seal fee for each bottle of water dispensed, as well as free accommodation and free operation of the pub next to the spring in the inn .

The water was also shipped - it is reported as early as 1787 that considerable quantities were sent in sealed bottles - and not only within Germany. The total edition rose in the period around 1850 to 8-10,000 bottles a year, in Bocksbeutel bottles with the seal “Water * Dorfgeismar” and later in clay bottles with the wax seal “Gesundbrunnen Dorfgeismar”, both with the Hessian lion . The spring water was bottled in its natural state with the greatest possible exclusion of air in order to avoid iron separation. A roofed dance floor was also set up to the east of the fountain house; dance music was played in summer and the residents of the area found their amusement here. This stayed that way until the 1960s.

1906 - the spring was now privately owned by a "Donarquelle GmbH" and the fountain shaft was redesigned in 1901 - the Princely Waldeckische Domanialverwaltung bought the source rights and the fountain house, from which in 1942 it was transferred to the administration of the state baths in Bad Wildungen resp. whose waterworks and from this last came in 1976 to the Bad Wildunger Kraftwagenverkehrs- und Wasserversorgungsgesellschaft. During that time, the excursion restaurant was closed and the fountain system was neglected. An offer to the city of Fritzlar in 1995 to purchase the source led to nothing.

From May 2006 to 2008 the well system was closed to all access because it was in disrepair. Then the Sauerbrunnen Geismar Association was formed, which acquired the system, repaired it and made it accessible to the public again. After another eight years of restoration and renovation work, mostly on a voluntary basis, the facility was reopened on November 27, 2016.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ At the old Germanic deity Thor was a special relationship in the area from time immemorial: Southeast of Geismar in today Fritzlar there was the 723 of Boniface felled Donareiche .
  2. ↑ See also Ph. Otto Cunz: Message from the effects and the use of the village Geismarian Gesundbrunnen. Kassel, 1781.
  3. ^ Message from the Gesundbrunnen near the village of Geismar in Hesse not far from the Meisebugschen Städtgen Rüschen (sic), in: Hessian Contributions to Gelehrsamkeit und Kunst , Volume II, Fourth Piece, Frankfurt am Main 1787, pp. 725-730
  4. ↑ "Moench, Conrad". Hessian biography. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  5. ↑ A number of publications in the 18th century on the source in Geismar do not deal with the village of Geismar, but the town of Hofgeismar ; see e.g. B. Georg-Friedrich-Christian Fuchs: Systematic description of all health fountains and baths of the known countries, especially Germany. Gabler, Jena and Leipzig, 1798, pp. 189–190 .
  6. ^ Message from the Gesundbrunnen near the village of Geismar in Hesse not far from the Meisebugschen Städtgen Rüschen (sic), in: Hessian Contributions to Gelehrsamkeit und Kunst , Volume II, Fourth Piece, Frankfurt am Main 1787, pp. 725-730
  7. ↑ Dorfgeismar to distinguish it from Hofgeismar .
  8. ↑ The domain assets, until 1918 private property of the Waldeck princes, were for the most part designated by the Prussian state as special assets with the rights of an independent legal entity in 1921 and transferred in 1929 to a special purpose association that encompasses the Waldeck communities . When the district of Waldeck was formed, the Zweckverband was dissolved on February 1, 1942, and its property was transferred to the district.
  9. ↑ The municipal waterworks was taken over in 1976 by the then Wildunger Kraftwagenverkehrsgesellschaft, which was then renamed.
  10. ↑ Geismarer Sauerbrunnen shines in new splendor after renovation , HNA , November 28, 2016

Web links

Commons : Donarquelle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 9 ′ 2 ″  N , 9 ° 13 ′ 56 ″  E