Hair Man's Well
The Haarmannsbrunnen is a memorial for miners in Osnabrück (Lower Saxony). The fountain from 1909 is one of the oldest workers' memorials in Germany. It bears the name of its founder, the steelworks director and Senator August Haarmann . When the monument is in operation, the water flowing out pours over the bronze figure and flows into the well built in front of it below.
classification
The Haarmannsbrunnen is often mentioned in publications as the oldest workers' monument in Germany. The iron foundry fountain from 1906 in Dortmund's northern part of the city, which has been there again since 1990, is older, however .
On September 7, 1893, a serious mine accident with 9 fatalities occurred during coal mining in the Stüveschacht of the Piesberg colliery . There is no evidence that Haarmann had the fountain built to commemorate this disaster. The underground mining at Piesberg was stopped in 1898, but stone is still mined there today.
According to Haarmann, the well should "represent a powerful worker who has drilled a spring and who enjoys his successful work in the face of the gushing water".
Location
The Haarmannsbrunnen is located at the southern end of the Herrenteichswall in the center of Osnabrück. The Herrenteichswall is part of the former city fortifications. After 1905 the area between Möser-Platz and Wall was redesigned as a terrace.
monument
The Haarmannsbrunnen shows a slightly larger than life bronze miner with a bared upper body and miner's trousers. He works with mallets and irons, although compressed air drills were already being used at the time the monument was erected. Water is pouring down on the statue because the miner hit a water vein, which meant danger to life and limb. The tunnel was modeled from carbon sandstone , which comes from the occurrence on the Piesberg. This stone is called Klöckner-Durilit after the supplier .
history
Benefactor
The Haarmannsbrunnen was donated by the privy councilor and senator August Haarmann (born August 4, 1840 in Blankenstein / Ruhr , † August 7, 1913 in Osnabrück). In addition, he was currently General Director of the Georgs-Marien-Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein and wanted to keep the entrance of the Herrenteichswall higher up as part of the old city fortifications so that it could not be removed any further. The city of Osnabrück wanted to build a new business district there.
He came from a humble background, attended the trade school in Bochum and partly financed his studies as a miner. In 1872 he became director of the steelworks in Osnabrück, which merged in 1885 with the iron and steel works of the Georgs-Marien-Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein in Georgsmarienhütte . Haarmann was nicknamed “Gevatter Grausam” by the employees because of the high demands he placed on them, but was also known for supporting them in emergencies.
He highly valued the miner's profession and was “always proud of the fact that he had learned all the details of the miner's profession, which was surrounded by a very special atmosphere,” as his son Justus reported.
To preserve the high Herrenteichswall, he had a staircase made of Piesberger Durilit stone and the miner's fountain built.
sculptor
Haarmann commissioned the sculptor, poet and local politician Adolf Graef (born April 14, 1862 in Schlotheim , † April 12, 1941) to erect the monument. Graef had studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris and lived with his wife Ella Rump in Fürstenau and Berlin. His wife's fortune enabled him to pursue his interests.
inauguration
At the 1. May 1909, the monument was inaugurated, the event had not been made public. The participants mainly included Osnabrück dignitaries, including Mayor Julius Rißmüller , who, like the founder, gave a speech.
Workers were not invited. In 1909, workers in Osnabrück did not celebrate May 1st with an excursion after work and in the evening with an event in a hotel.
When the monument was inaugurated, the mining disaster of 1893 was not mentioned.
Second World War
In the time of National Socialism , the Haarmannsbrunnen was regarded as an important sight in Osnabrück and was widely distributed on postcards. Nevertheless, the miner's sculpture was dismantled during World War II and taken to a metal collection, but not melted down. After it was found in a metal smelter near Brilon in 1949 , the city of Osnabrück bought it back and had it installed again at its old location in October of the same year. The fountain system was last renovated in a particularly elaborate manner in 1980 for more than DM 700,000 (around € 358,000). Smaller repairs followed in 1996 and 2003. In 2014, € 51,000 has been calculated for renewal, which the city's own company "Immobilien" spends on renovation and technical repairs. The Herrenteichslaischaft cultural foundation pays around € 6,000.
gallery
Hasebrücke-Herrenteichswall
Herrenteichswall in snow
Haarmannsbrunnen in front of the Herz-Jesu-Kirche , on the left in the background the stairs to the Herrenteichswall
literature
Anja Steinhorst: City beautification or political representation? The worker's worth as a monument using the example of the Haarmannsbrunnen in Osnabrück In: Osnabrücker Mitteilungen Volume 107, Association for History and Regional Studies of Osnabrück (ed.), Osnabrück 2002 ISSN 0474-8158 , pp. 181-202
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ilsetraut Lindemann: The oldest worker monument - The Osnabrücker Harmanns fountain on Herrenteichswall In: Auf Roter Erde - monthly sheets for regional studies and folklore of Westphalia , local supplement of the Westphalian news , 33rd year Münster (Westphalia) 1977, p. 19
- ↑ https://www.osnabrueck.de/gruen/gruenanlagen-und-parks/herrenteichswall.html , last accessed: July 6, 2019
- ↑ Chronik der Stadt Osnabrück, 1985, pages 446, 447. ISBN 3-88926-005-5
- ↑ Justus Haarmann: About the Bergmannsbrunnen in Osnabrück In: Der Anschnitt , Jg. 3 (1951) No. 5/6, p. 33, quoted from Anja Steinhorst: City beautification or political representation? The worker's worth as a monument using the example of the Osnabrücker Haarmannsbrunnen In: Osnabrücker Mitteilungen , Osnabrück 2002, p. 191
- ↑ NOZ from August 11, 2014: Haarmannsbrunnen in Osnabruck is being renovated
Coordinates: 52 ° 16 '33.46 " N , 8 ° 2' 53.74" O