Georg Steenke

Monument to Georg Steenke on the Oberland Canal, inscription: “The builder of the Oberland Canal and the sloping plains, the royal. Baurath Steenke, on the 50th anniversary of the service, July 15, 1872, in permanent recognition. The grateful farmers "

Georg Steenke (born June 30, 1801 in Königsberg (Prussia) , † April 22, 1884 in Elbing ; full name: Georg Jakob Steenke , called Georg Gottlieb Steenke in the obituary ) was a German hydraulic engineer and Prussian construction officer , who was primarily a designer of the Oberland Canal is remembered.

Life

Georg Steenke came from a family of sailors. His grandfather Gottfried Steenke was a harbor pilot in Königsberg. His son Johann Friedrich Steenke , who worked in maritime trade , drowned in November 1818 while rescuing an English sailing ship. At first, at the request of his mother, Maria Dorothea, geb. de Wulf started to study law , but had to drop out after the death of his father for financial reasons. Instead, he completed a carpenter apprenticeship and then visited the Berlin Academy of Architecture , where he in 1822 the exam for Baukondukteur and 1827, the architect was -Examen. One of his teachers was Karl Friedrich Schinkel .

Georg Steenke led the construction of the Seckenburg Canal in the Memel lowlands in 1833 , where he was able to contribute his experience as a carpenter to the wooden structures of the chamber locks . Since he was appointed "Inspector of Dikes and Dams" in Elbing in 1836, he has been planning the Oberland Canal , which was built between 1844 and 1858 in the Oberland under his direction and officially inaugurated on August 31, 1860. This direct connection from Osterode or Preussisch Eylau to Elbing to the Frischen Haff and thus to the Baltic Sea shortened the transport time for wood from the East Prussian forests, which was particularly in demand in shipbuilding and for sailing ship masts, by several months. Steenke's construction of the sloping levels ( rolling mountains ), which are still functional today, to bridge the height difference of 99 m over a distance of 9.5 km, was considered a pioneering act in Prussia.

During the construction work on the Oberland Canal, Steenke had a villa built for himself and his family in the classical style on the banks of the Röthloffsee in Zölp ( Seegertswalde municipality ). In this manor, in which he lived until shortly before his death, he kept all documents relating to the construction of the Oberland Canal with the consent of the Prussian authorities.

Honors

In 1871 Steenke became an honorary citizen of Saalfeld , honorary citizenships in Elbing and Liebemühl followed. After he was appointed royal building officer in 1872 , some grateful farmers erected a memorial in the form of an obelisk on the occasion of his 50th anniversary in service , which was unveiled on July 15, 1872 on the sloping plain in Buchwalde. Another obelisk was erected in the Stölp estate ( Polish : Jezioro Ruda Woda), but it was probably destroyed after the Second World War. Due to Steenkes popularity, the place was renamed Steenkewalde around 1872 on the initiative of the residents and the Seegertswalde municipal council.

After the end of the Second World War, the obelisk near Buchwalde was also dismantled and was hidden behind a fence in the grass. After UNESCO added the Oberland Canal to the World Heritage Site as a technical monument , the monument was restored in Poland , and the obelisk was placed on its original base in 1986. A plaque in Polish and Dutch translation was placed underneath , as Steenke was believed to be a Dutchman, an error that has persisted in literature to this day.

literature

Georg Gottlieb Steenke †. Obituary , Im Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung , No. 17, April 30, 1884, p. 168., accessed on December 27, 2012.
Dariusz Barton (tr: Wlodzimierz Mengel): The Oberland Canal . MW, Sztutowo 2010, ISBN 978-83-88015-58-8 , pp. 15-21.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Dariusz Barton: The Oberland Canal . Sztutowo 2010, ISBN 978-83-88015-58-8 , p. 17.
^ Dariusz Barton: Der Oberländische Kanal , 2010, p. 8.
↑ Dariusz Barton: The Oberland Canal . Sztutowo 2010, ISBN 978-83-88015-58-8 , p. 18.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Dariusz Barton: The Oberland Canal . Sztutowo 2010, ISBN 978-83-88015-58-8 , p. 19.
↑ Most recently in the travel guide by Malgorzata Omilanowska and Jerzy S. Malewski: Danzig und Ostpommern , new edition Dorling Kindersley Verlag, Munich 2007/2008, ISBN 978-3-928044-80-6 , p. 225.

personal data
SURNAME	Steenke, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Steenke, Georg Jakob (full name); Steenke, Georg Gottlieb (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German hydraulic engineer and Prussian construction officer
DATE OF BIRTH	June 30, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH	Königsberg (Prussia)
DATE OF DEATH	April 22, 1884
Place of death	Elblag

[Barton17-1] Dariusz Barton: The Oberland Canal . Sztutowo 2010, ISBN 978-83-88015-58-8 , p. 17.

[2] Dariusz Barton: Der Oberländische Kanal , 2010, p. 8.

[Barton18-3] Dariusz Barton: The Oberland Canal . Sztutowo 2010, ISBN 978-83-88015-58-8 , p. 18.

[Barton19-4] Dariusz Barton: The Oberland Canal . Sztutowo 2010, ISBN 978-83-88015-58-8 , p. 19.

[5] Most recently in the travel guide by Malgorzata Omilanowska and Jerzy S. Malewski: Danzig und Ostpommern , new edition Dorling Kindersley Verlag, Munich 2007/2008, ISBN 978-3-928044-80-6 , p. 225.