Former power station (Worms)
| Former power station (Worms) | |||
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| Coordinates | 49 ° 37 '29 " N , 8 ° 21' 45" E | ||
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| Type | Steam power plant | ||
| Primary energy | Fossil energy | ||
| fuel | coal | ||
| Start of operations | 1901 | ||
| Shutdown | 1958 | ||
The former power plant in Worms , Klosterstraße 23, is a 1901 finished and 1958 disused coal plant whose preserved parts of buildings under monument protection standing and some are used as a convention center.
prehistory
After the negotiations between the city of Worms and the AEG about the construction and operation of an electric tram with the necessary power station were given up in 1899 due to different ideas about business and contract design, the city administration continued to build its own power station . The concrete planning could be pushed ahead quickly with the significant participation of the renowned electrical engineer Erasmus Kittler , professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt . As early as January 2, 1900, the building decision was made by the city council . A little later, Elektrizitäts-Aktiengesellschaft, formerly Schuckert & Co. , in Nuremberg was commissioned with the manufacture and delivery of the mechanical equipment.
Construction and design
The building of the power plant was designed by the Worms city architect Georg Metzler according to the technical specifications; The original inventory included the coal shed, boiler house, machine house , accumulator house and administration building, which were combined with a pump room, workshop room and chimney to form a closed assembly group surrounding a small inner courtyard. The administration building, which also features a generously sized flat for the first engineer involved (manager) and a reception room for visitors was in residential buildings of historicism typical mixed or transitional style between Neo-Gothic and neo-Renaissance held, all other components in the style of Romanesque Revival .
Above a narrow base made of dark, low-end basalt lava , the lightly plastered surfaces of the facades are framed by structures in Neckar sandstone and Palatinate sandstone. Apart from the partially arched window openings, the arched friezes at the height of the eaves are a recurring, defining design motif . The roofs of the components standing on Klosterstrasse (administration building and accumulator house) were originally covered with bluish German slate , those of the rear components with brown glazed roof tiles .
The entire complex took up an area of 1700 m², on the property (at that time) between Klosterstrasse, Aulstrasse and Vangionenring there was still room for later extensions.
business
After several weeks of trial operation, the power station supplied around 238 commercial and residential buildings. The mayor of Worms, Heinrich Köhler , inaugurated the plant on November 9, 1901 as part of a public ceremony. The town's residents were invited to visit the town on November 17th of the same year for an open day .
Due to the advancing electrification, the available electrical power was soon no longer sufficient. The Elektrizitätswerk Rheinhessen AG, which was founded in 1911 with a significant contribution from the city of Worms and headquartered in Worms, from which the energy group EWR AG later emerged, had the goal of supplying energy to parts of the municipalities on the right bank of the Rhine in addition to the city of Worms on the left bank of the Rhine. When the company was founded, the capital was three million marks . She leased the municipal power station and expanded it further, including by replacing or supplementing the original steam engines with more powerful steam turbines from Siemens-Schuckertwerke GmbH (SSW). This went hand in hand with various structural changes and extensions, but these were adapted to the existing architecture.
The share capital was increased several times for the expansion of the Worms power station and various other facilities: in 1915 to 5 million marks, in 1920 to 8 million marks, and in the further course of inflation up to 18 million marks. After the currency had stabilized, the changeover to 8 million Reichsmarks took place in December 1924 . In 1925, the Worms power station provided 1.5 MW direct current and 2.1 MW three-phase current . According to a heel tip of 35.1 million kWh in the fiscal year 1927, the energy sales decreased in the global economic crisis (1931) to 28.3 million kWh, wherein the DC power was reduced of Worms power station to 0.7 MW (1932).
Reuse / preservation
The power station was shut down in 1958. The boiler house was renovated in 2006, together with the machine hall it is now used as an event location for mainly cultural events.
While the administration building has undergone major changes, the remaining parts of the building still clearly show the original architectural concept, despite extensions and some lost details.
literature
- The municipal power station in Worms. In: Deutsche Bauzeitung , 36th year 1902, No. 31 (from April 16, 1902), p. 197 f.
- Gerold Bönnen (ed.): History of the city of Worms . 2nd Edition. Theiss , Darmstadt 2015, ISBN 978-3-8062-3158-8 , pp. 533 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - district-free city of Worms. ( Memento from June 13, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Mainz 2018 [ Version 2020 is available. ] , P. 11 (PDF; 5.0 MB).
- ↑ The neo-Romanesque style, which was established in Worms under Georg Metzler's predecessor Karl Hofmann and was perceived as historically appropriate to the city, was also locally referred to as the “Nibelung style”.
- ↑ a b c d Jörg Koch: Worms 100 years ago . Sutton Verlag , Erfurt 2012, ISBN 978-3-95400-020-3 , p. 24 .
- ↑ a b c Handbook of German Stock Companies , 30th edition 1925, Volume 1, p. 1287 f.
- ↑ Handbook of German Stock Companies , 37th edition 1932, Volume 3, p. 4037 f.