Heppinger fountain

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The Heppinger Brunnen are two springs or wells for mineral and medicinal water in Heppingen , a district of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate . The maximum permissible amount for pumping the spring water from the two springs at the historic Heppinger Brunnen is 15.3 million liters per year. The Heppinger Heilwasser is a product of Apollinaris GmbH . After its healing springs were first mentioned in scientific literature in 1565, the fountain has been in uninterrupted use for over four centuries.

The large fountain house, one of two fountain houses
The mountain Landskrone am Ahrtal with the Heppinger Brunnenhaus at the foot of the mountain

location

The source location Heppingen is located in Heppingen at the foot of the Landskrone (Ahr) mountain in the Ahr valley near Bad Neuenahr , 20 km south of Bonn . The spring water of the Heppinger Fountain has been available to the population of the neighboring communities free of charge for centuries. The area around the wells has been designated as a medicinal spring protection area since 1929 . The springs are known for the public mineral water extraction point and the two well houses, which have remained largely unchanged since 1850, as cultural monuments.

Proof of sources from 1565

View of the Heppinger Fountain, drawing by Roidkin 1715

The sources at the foot of the Landskron mountain in Heppingen were discovered in the Renaissance in 1565 by the book "commentarius de balneis et aquis medicatis" by Johann Winter von Andernach (also called Guinterius von Andernach), professor of medicine in Strasbourg and Paris, and by mentioning it 1581 by Jacob Theodorus Tabernaemontanus , professor of botany and medicine, in his text "Neuw Wasserschatz" known nationwide. Based on the report in the Landskronische Chronik from 1598 that Roman coins were found in the fountain at the foot of the Land crown, there is much to suggest that the mineral and medicinal springs in Heppingen were already used in Roman times.

The drawing of the fountain at the foot of the land crown made by Renier Roidkin in 1715 already shows a fountain system consisting of two fountains in Baroque style , a guard house on the left and a well house on the right .

Leases of the well from 1747 to 1828

Mineral water jugs from the Heppinger Brunnen from around 1820

The first documented leasing of the Heppinger Fountain by electoral ordinance dates from 1747. The lease was three gold guilders per year and was subject to the condition that the well and the well house were kept in good condition.

In 1767 the well was leased again. As part of the French occupation from 1794, after the sovereign bonds were broken, the electoral property in the area around the springs was transferred to the civil parish and used by the community. The water from the two springs of the Heppinger Fountain was sent to “Holland, Achen and Lüttich” as early as 1799.

In 1821 the Heppinger Brunnen, now under the administration of the Royal Prussian Government in Koblenz , was leased again.

The water of the Heppinger Well, like the water of other wells of the time, was filled into hand-formed, clay-fired water jugs, corked, sealed and shipped. The seal of the respective well was stamped on the clay jug as proof of origin.

Seal of the Heppinger Fountain from 1821

Seal of the Heppinger Brunnen from 1828
Tenant: Friedrich Faulenbach
Seal of the Heppinger MW with jug
Heppinger Brunnen seal from 1828
Tenant: Dhal Junior

The jugs of the Heppinger Fountain bore the round seal “Heppinger MW” for Heppinger mineral water with the seal of an anchor and triangle as a stylized sail. The seal mark of the fountain showed that the Heppinger fountain was a shipping fountain whose products were already being shipped nationwide by water (see illustrations).

In 1828 the leasing of the lower source of the Heppinger Well was put out to tender again by the Royal Prussian Government and re-leased to the merchants Elias Dhal Junior from Koblenz and Friedrich Faulenbach from Cologne. The “upper” spring was left to the community for free use, it was a public well.

Both tenants used the aforementioned seal of the Heppinger Fountain with anchor and a triangle as a stylized sail, only supplemented with a horizontal line. From 1828 onwards they sold the Heppinger mineral water on separate accounts with their own name on the jug (see illustrations).

The leasing of the fountain by the Royal Prussian Government in Koblenz from 1828 was linked to the condition that the stone surround of the lower source of the Heppinger Fountain be renewed and a new fountain house built. Precise regulations also had to be adhered to for the sale of the well water: the jugs had to bear the seal “Heppinger Mineralwasser” to be filled, each had to be immersed completely below the water level of the well and then had to be “clogged” and “obligated”. Each jug had a branded label and 100 jugs could not cost more than 5 thalers. In 1831 the condition of the royal government was fulfilled, the old Heppinger fountain was redrawn and the fountain house rebuilt.

Second well operation from 1832

From 1832, a new spring was drilled by the pharmacist Johann Wilhelm Hoevel in a vineyard bought by the community at the Heppinger Brunnen on the other side of the road, only about 20 meters away in the direction of the Landskron mountain. The Bonn chemist and geologist Professor Karl Gustav Bischof contributed to the development of this source, which was given a rectangular setting made of basalt stone by 1832 .

From 1832 a new, for this time and region unusually large, well house in the classical style was built at the Heppinger Brunnen exactly above the rectangular basalt stone spring .

Engraving of the Heppinger Brunnenhäuser around 1840
Map of the old Heppinger and the new Heppinger-Landskroner fountain dated 1832
Seal Landskroner mineral water, seal mark Krone

The new fountain in Heppingen with the large fountain house received the concession to operate a mineral fountain in 1838 from the Royal Prussian Government in Koblenz. When awarding the concession, the Royal Prussian Government decided on the name "Landskroner Brunnen". The operator's suggestion “Neuer Heppinger Brunnen” was not accepted.

The mineral water jugs of the new well operation in Heppingen therefore bore the inscription "Landskron MW", with a crown as a seal. The abbreviation "MW" stood for mineral water (see illustration: Landskroner mineral water, seal mark Krone)

From 1838 there were two state-licensed mineral water companies at the Heppinger Brunnen, "Heppinger Mineralwasser" and "Landskron Mineralwasser". In July 1839, the new large fountain house was examined by the royal building inspector Johann Claudius von Lassaulx because of a landslide. To reinforce the six-meter high vault above the spring , brick arches were prescribed (see illustration of the right wing of the large fountain house). The smaller fountain house, which was leased by the state, was rebuilt from 1848 onwards, following a stipulation by the Royal Prussian Government, and adapted to the classical style of the large fountain house. From 1852 the Heppinger Brunnenhäuser in the classical style formed a unit that shaped the townscape.

The mineral and medicinal water of the old Heppinger fountain "Heppinger" was already sold in 1852 by pharmacies in Luxembourg. The Landskroner mineral water, the new Heppinger Brunnen, had a predominantly regional market, but was also sent to the Mecklenburg court.

The mineral water jugs were sold as 1 liter and 0.5 liter jugs. The offer of the Landskroner Fountain included new jugs and cheaper old, refilled jugs. The jugs were each offered sealed and unsealed. The unsealed jars were cheaper. On another transport route, for the delivery of pharmacies, hotels, aristocratic and wealthy town houses, only new, sealed jugs were sold. The mineral water, mainly bottled in clay jugs, was a luxury item. For the price of a 1-liter mineral water jug, a worker had to work around two hours. However, the demand for mineral water increased steadily and more and more mineral water resources were developed in the vicinity of the Heppinger Fountain. In 1852 the nearby source of the Apollinaris fountain was drilled and in 1853 the Sinziger fountain in Sinzig am Rhein, 10 kilometers away .

1852 competition from Apollinaris

The Heppinger Brunnen with its two licensed wells was given new competition from 1853, because the Apollinaris spring, opened in 1852 by the 58-year-old Georg Kreuzberg only 1000 meters away, was also granted a state concession by the Royal Prussian Government in Koblenz for mineral water extraction.

The Bonn geologist Karl Gustav Bischof , who was involved in the development of the Apollinaris well, had already drilled the new source of the Heppinger well 20 years earlier in 1832. Due to its proximity to the Heppinger Brunnen, sales of the Apollinaris Fountain initially rose only slowly from 1853. In 1860, the Apollinaris fountain sold 40,000 jugs a year.

The annual export of the Heppinger Well to Holland and the Dutch colonies is given in the literature as 400,000 to 500,000.

1870 takeover by Apollinaris

In 1870 the old Heppinger Brunnen was leased from the Royal Prussian Government by the founder of the Apollinaris fountain, Georg Kreuzberg. The newer, second Heppinger Brunnenbetrieb, the Landskroner Brunnen licensed in 1838 with the large fountain house, was founded in 1873 in the year of the death of Apollinaris founder by the Commanditgesellschaft Georg Kreuzberg zu Cie. Bought. After leasing and buying the two Heppinger mineral fountains "Heppinger" and "Landskron", "Apollinaris" achieved an annual turnover of two million jugs in 1873.

Guarantee of the mineral water withdrawal point from 1870

Even with the takeover of the Heppinger springs by “Apollinaris”, the population of the neighboring communities was able to continue to use the water from the springs at set times free of charge, as the Royal Prussian Government made this a condition for the leaseholder of the old Heppinger well.

Apollinaris takes over the seal

Seal Heppinger 1828
Seal Apollinaris 1860

The old seal of the Heppinger Fountain, the anchor with a triangle as a stylized sail, which from 1828 already drew millions of water jugs from the old Heppinger Fountain, was adopted by Georg Kreuzberg as a seal in almost identical form for the Apollinaris mineral water jugs (see illustrations of the Heppinger seal from 1828 and figure seal Apollinaris).

Complete acquisition by Apollinaris

In 1885, ownership of the real estate and source inventory of the old Heppinger Fountain, which had previously only been leased by the Royal Prussian Government in Koblenz, was acquired by the "Actiengesellschaft Apollinaris Brunnen" founded in 1876. As with the lease, the fountain was also sold on the condition that the owner of the spring property made the spring water available to the population free of charge at regular times. In 1897 the ownership of the Heppinger Fountain passed into English hands with the sale of the Apollinaris Brunnen joint stock company.

Apollinaris jug seal

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Apollinaris-Brunnen-AG reports a sample for the old seal of the Heppinger Fountain from 1828 with anchor and triangle as a stylized sail, which Georg Kreuzberg took over from Apollinaris water jugs for several hundred million from around 1853. and patent protection (see illustration of the Heppinger Brunnen fountain seal from 1828 and the illustration of the Apollinaris jug seal). In 1910 the Prussian Reich Government in Berlin recognized the "non-profit status" for the sources of the Heppinger Fountain (the Heppinger and Landskroner Fountain) by decree of the Minister for Spiritual Education and Medical Affairs.

The mineral and medicinal water from the sources of the Heppinger Fountain continued to be extracted in the 20th century and fed through two underground pipes to the Apollinaris plant, only 800 meters away, for industrial bottling.

Medicinal spring protection area 1929

In 1929, the Prussian government in Koblenz granted special protection for the two historical springs of the Heppinger Fountain by means of the Ordinance on the Protection of Medicinal Springs of June 15, 1929, which is still in force today.

Old Heppinger fountain

The sources of the Heppinger Fountain were revised in 1958 under the supervision of the head of the State Sources Office in Bad Ems , after the Dortmund Union Brewery AG bought the Apollinaris Fountain and the Heppinger Fountain from English hands in 1956 . In the 1970s, when the “Heppinger” mineral and medicinal water was marketed, the centuries-old tradition of the Heppinger fountain and Heppinger medicinal water was again referred to on the drinking glasses for spa treatments with the note “SINCE 1584” .

Monument protection

The two well houses of the Heppinger Fountain were placed under monument protection as a cultural monument by the Ahrweiler district administration in 1981 . The monumental protection of the large Heppinger Brunnenhaus became legally binding on October 10, 1985 with a judgment by the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate . The Higher Administrative Court referred in particular to the centuries-old history of the fountains and the “palais-like appearance” of the fountain house in Heppingen, which “gives the place its character”.

The plan of the Ahrweiler district administration to set up a museum on the history of water in the large Heppinger Brunnenhaus in cooperation with Apollinaris und Schweppes GmbH & Co in 1990 was not realized. From 1994, the historic fountain complex with the two fountain houses above the springs was restored and is now privately owned.

Use in the 21st century

Apollinaris & Heppinger Zapfstelle, Heppinger Brunnen
Heppinger water supply point

As it has been for centuries, the spring water of the Heppinger Fountain is available free of charge to the local population at the public mineral water extraction point located next to the fountain houses and redesigned in 1998 at regular times in the 21st century. The city administration of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler regulates the withdrawal of Heppinger and Apollinaris at the tap (see sign at the Apollinaris & Heppinger tap, Heppinger Brunnen ). A control of the water withdrawal by a well keeper, as in the past centuries, no longer takes place.

The water from two sources of the old Heppinger Fountain is still pumped industrially in the 21st century in well chambers at the large well house with a maximum allowable amount of 42,000 liters per day, which corresponds to an annual maximum amount of 15.3 million liters.

Right vaulted wing of the large Heppinger Brunnenhaus

The spring water is fed to the nearby plant of Apollinaris GmbH for mineral and medicinal water production, which has belonged to Coca-Cola GmbH, the German subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company , since May 2006 .

By the poet Ernst Moritz Arndt "neat and petite" in the Ahr valley leader from 1846 described edging of spring water on Heppinger well, the rectangular source version of basalt stone dating from 1832, is still unchanged get the large fountain house in the middle of the six-meter-high arch. A private mineral water museum is being set up there from 2008.

literature

  • Landschaftsverband Rheinland, Rheinisches Museumamt: Wasserlust. Mineral springs and medicinal baths in the Rhineland . Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-7927-1213-X .
  • Hans Frick: Sources on the history of Bad Neuenahr (Wadenheim / Beul / Hemmessen), the county of Neuenahr and the families of Ahr, Neuenahr and Saffenberg . Self-published by the municipality of Bad Neuenahr, 1933, DNB 362477256 .
  • Wilhelm Knippler: 1000 years of Heppingen, historical overview . Working group for the millennium in Heppingen, Verlag Warlich, Ahrweiler 1965.
  • Heinz Nienhaus: History of the Neuenahrer Versandbrunnen on the trail of rediscovered clay jugs . In: The mineral fountain . 1994, No. 4, pp. 162-170.
  • Walther Ottendorf-Simrock: healing springs and mineral fountains in the Ahrweiler district . In: Home chronicles of the Ahrweiler district. Archive for German Home Care, Cologne 1968, pp. 261–283.
  • Paul Clemen: The art monuments of the Rhine province. Volume 17, Department 1: The art monuments of the Ahrweiler district. Verlag L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1938, DNB 36150358X .

Web links

Commons : Heppinger Brunnen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Johann Winter (also G. von Andernach): commentarius de balneis & aquis medicatis, in tres Dialogos distinctus. 1565, p. 139.
  2. ^ Jacob Theodor (Jacob Theodorus Tabernaemontanus): Neuw Wasserschatz. Frankfurt 1593, chap. LXII and LXIII
  3. ^ A b Walther Ottendorf-Simrock: healing springs and mineral fountains in the Ahrweiler district. In: Home chronicles of the Ahrweiler district. Archive for German Home Care, Cologne 1968, pp. 261–283, here pp. 262–263.
  4. ^ Walther Ottendorf-Simrock: healing springs and mineral fountains in the Ahrweiler district. In: Home chronicles of the Ahrweiler district. Archive for German Home Care, Cologne 1968, pp. 261–283, here pp. 263–264.
  5. ↑ a b Wilhelm Knippler: 1000 years of Heppingen, historical overview. Thousand Year Celebration Working Group in Heppingen, Verlag Warlich, Ahrweiler 1965, p. 102.
  6. ↑ Account of the rent master Karl Kaspar Dahmen 1747, sheet 49, Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz, quoted from Hans Frick: Sources for the history of Bad Neuenahr (Wadenheim / Beul / Hemmessen) of the county of Neuenahr and the families of Ahr, Neuenahr and Saffenberg. Self-published by the Bad Neuenahr community in 1933, here p. 510.
  7. ↑ Landesarchiv Koblenz: Inventory 441, No. 13138. S. 4 ff.
  8. ↑ a b Ingeborg Schild : Report on the large Heppinger fountain house. December 15, 1983, p. 4.
  9. ↑ Bernd Brinkmann: Stoneware bottles for shipping Rheinischer Mineralbrunnen. In: Landschaftsverband Rheinland / Rheinisches Museumamt: Wasserlust. Mineral springs and medicinal baths in the Rhineland. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, pp. 82-103, here p. 86.
  10. ↑ Landesarchiv Koblenz: holdings 441, No. 13139 .
  11. ↑ Ingeborg Schild: Report on the large Heppinger Brunnenhaus. December 15, 1983, p. 6.
  12. ^ Walter Ottendorff Simrock: healing springs and mineral wells in the Ahrweiler district. In: Heimatchroniken des Kreis Ahrweiler , Volume 35 of the series Heimatchroniken of the cities and districts of the federal territory , 1st edition. Cologne 1968, pp. 261–283, here p. 269.
  13. ^ Paul Clemen: The art monuments of the Rhine province. The art monuments of the Ahrweiler district. Verlag von L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1938, 17th volume, 1st department, p. 301.
  14. ↑ Ingeborg Schild: Report on the large Heppinger Brunnenhaus. December 15, 1983, pp. 7-8.
  15. ↑ Ingeborg Schild: Report on the large Heppinger Brunnenhaus. December 15, 1983, p. 7.
  16. ↑ Ingeborg Schild: Report on the large Heppinger Brunnenhaus. December 15, 1983, p. 9.
  17. ↑ Ingeborg Schild: Report on the large Heppinger Brunnenhaus. December 15, 1983, p. 11.
  18. ^ Luxemburger Wort (international German-language daily newspaper) of May 23, 1852: Clean drinking water for the city of Luxembourg .
  19. ↑ Bernd Brinkmann: Stoneware bottles for shipping Rheinischer Mineralbrunnen. In: Landschaftsverband Rheinland / Rheinisches Museumamt: Wasserlust. Mineral springs and medicinal baths in the Rhineland. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, pp. 82-103, here p. 89.
  20. ↑ a b Bernd Brinkmann: Stoneware bottles for shipping Rheinischer Mineralbrunnen. In: Landschaftsverband Rheinland / Rheinisches Museumamt: Wasserlust. Mineral springs and medicinal baths in the Rhineland. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, pp. 82-103, here p. 96.
  21. ↑ a b c d e f g Ahrweiler district administration: History of Apollinaris. www.rotweinwanderweg.de
  22. ^ Georg Kreuzberg: Memorandum. quoted from: Walther Ottendorff Simrock: Heilquellen und Mineralbrunnen in the Ahrweiler district. In: Heimatchroniken des Kreis Ahrweiler , Volume 35 of the series Heimatchroniken of the cities and districts of the federal territory , 1st edition. Cologne 1968, pp. 261–283, here p. 266.
  23. ↑ Medicinal Spring Protection Ordinance of the Prussian Government in Koblenz , published in Official Gazette No. 26 of June 15, 1929.
  24. ^ Judgment of the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate Koblenz of October 10, 1985, p. 8.
  25. ^ Ernst Moritz Arndt: Rhine and Ahr walks. Bonn 1846, p. 204.

Coordinates: 50 ° 32 ′ 58 ″  N , 7 ° 10 ′ 9 ″  E