Cannon boring mill (Dresden)

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Cannon boring machine, watercolor, 1869

The cannon boring mill was a building complex in the Dresden district of Löbtau . The copper hammer, which was originally located at this location, had to give way in 1765 to the “Churfürstlichen-Kanonen-Bohrwerk”. The buildings that remained until 1945 were largely destroyed by bombs, the ruins were later removed. From 1993 to 1995 a gas turbine thermal power station was built on the site of the former cannon boring mill.

Prehistory up to the construction of the cannon boring mill

The use of hydropower probably began at this point as early as 1500; in any case, a copper hammer is mentioned here in 1554 . The water of the Weißeritzmühlgraben drove two undershot water wheels , the larger of which moved the (presumably three) hammers and at the same time, together with the smaller water wheel, drove the bellows in order to reach the temperatures in the forge fire required for forging . At that time the facility consisted of a single-storey production building, a residential building, shed and the horse stable.

In the 17th and early 18th centuries there were multiple changes in ownership and use of the property. In 1665, Elector Elector Johann Georg II. Acquired the hammer from the family of the Elector Oberzeugmeister Paul Buchner , but later sold it again. In 1730, the elector finally acquired the mill for the main armory . The aim of the purchase was the water regulation for the powder mill above. However, plans to completely merge the plant with the powder mill were dropped and so the plant was leased again and continued to operate until 1764, subject to conditions relating to water use.

Construction of the cannon boring mill and use until 1870

As early as 1745, Elector Friedrich August II had ordered a drilling mill to be built on the Weißeritz at his own expense. 1764 is now the manager of the main armory presented a plan to complete reconstruction of the plant for the purpose of drawing up a "horizontal inventieusen also perpendicular drilling machine." Before. The aim was to be able to massively drill all the guns to be manufactured in the future. The premises in the main armory were insufficient for this.

On April 15, 1765, the conversion of the copper hammer into the "Electoral cannon boring mill" began and the cannon boring mill at Weißeritzmühlgraben was completed after only 178 working days. The facility now consisted of a two-story, unadorned production building. The machines were on the ground floor, and there was a hall for the workers on the upper floor. The residential building was directly connected, various sheds and a self-catering bakery completed the property. The most important component, however, was its 10 meter high wooden tower, which was needed to accommodate the vertical drilling machine. The tower with its copper-covered tent roof and a weather vane with a tower button on top was a distinctive and widely visible landmark of this district for more than 150 years.

The core of the system was the drilling machine powered by water power. This could carry out both vertical and horizontal drilling. The driving force was provided by the large water wheel with a width of 1.15 meters and a diameter of 5.60 meters. The vertical drilling variant is of particular technical interest. For this purpose, the “ piece ” was lifted into the tower by means of water power, then the drill was adjusted and applied from below. The cannon barrel now pressed under its own weight on the rotating drill bit and slowly slipped downwards as the drill continued to eat its way into the interior.

Around 1830 steam engines were installed, which made the work of the plant independent of the fluctuations in the water level in the Mühlgraben. After about a hundred years of activity, the end came in 1870, because the military and mechanical engineering had changed so fundamentally that there was no longer any need for the old cannon boring mill.

Use after 1870 until destruction in 1945

After the end of its military use, the Saxon War Ministry leased the property to the last boring mill master, Herzog. Together with his business partner Demuth, he produced wind motors, the forerunners of today's modern wind turbines . A model of it was placed on the tower of the building.

From these beginnings, the "Saxon steel and wind engine factory GR Herzog GmbH" developed, which was taken over in 1898 by Herzog's business partner Demuth. The "Friedrich Strassburg Nickel Plants" had also settled in the area of ​​the former cannon boring mill. There were minor modifications and additions, but the face of the old facility was largely preserved.

On December 23, 1928, a catastrophic fire broke out in the former cannon boring mill. This destroyed parts of the roof structure of the main building, including the striking tower. The building stood empty for many years and lost its original power source when the Weißeritzmühlgraben closed in 1937. The history of the former Dresden cannon boring mill ends with the destruction as a result of the bombing raids in 1945.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Complicated description of Dresden: with all its external and internal peculiarities, Volume 1, p. 126, Leipzig 1781
  2. ^ Announcements of the Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Volume XXII, Issue 7/9, page 208f., Dresden 1933
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Müller: Stories from old Dresden - With the Weißeritzmühlgraben through our city. 1st edition. Hille, Dresden 2011, ISBN 978-3-939025-23-8 .

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 31.8 ″  N , 13 ° 42 ′ 31 ″  E