Landgraben (Karlsruhe)

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The Landgraben was a ditch in Karlsruhe that was later converted into a sewer .

Open moat

Course of the moat

In 1588, Margrave Ernst Friedrich von Baden-Durlach initiated the construction of the moat when the Gottesaue Palace was built . This was supposed to drain the Kinzig-Murg-Rinne running between the new castle and Durlach to the west to the Alb in Mühlburg . Floods in the catchment area also flowed faster to the Rhine .

The course of the moat influenced the development of the city of Karlsruhe, newly founded north in 1715, by forcing the asymmetry of some streets in the expanding city. Triangular squares like Lidellplatz and Ludwigsplatz came about because of the ditch that flowed on one side of these squares.

In 1768 the Landgraben was extended to the Pfinz by the “Stein (ship) canal” in order to be able to accommodate its flood. At the same time it was used as a transport route for building materials to the growing Karlsruhe. From 1794 the citizens of the city were allowed to channel sewage from the kitchen and bathroom into the Landgraben, but no faeces.

In the same year a miller in Mühlburg received permission from the margrave to build a water mill on the Landgraben . For this, however, the ditch had to be dammed a good meter. The ditch, which was already slowly flowing due to the low gradient, became muddy and smelled particularly strong in summer. In the event of flooding, on the other hand, it flooded the surrounding open spaces right into the buildings.

Therefore, in 1815 work began on building over the moat. The costs for this had to be paid by the owners of the adjacent properties, but were given ownership rights to the new areas. The city only financed the development along public roads. The construction of the vault over the moat began at Lidellplatz; the last sections in the west of the city were not completed until 1905. During this time, small canals called " Dolen " were built to drain road water into the ditch. The open drainage ditch had become an underground sewage collector.

Land ditch correction

In 1877, the city council commissioned the city architect Hermann Schück to develop a sewer system for Karlsruhe. Schück envisaged the Landgraben as the main collecting canal, which had to be deepened and expanded for this. This deepening had been planned earlier, but at that time it failed due to resistance from the residents who feared damage to buildings as a result of the work, as well as insufficient funds. In order to clear the mill jam, the miller's water rights were bought for 70,000 marks. Construction began in 1883, which also ended the jackdaw system. With the land ditch correction, the modern sewer system begins in Karlsruhe.

The work was completed after two years. The ditch now had a cross-section of 17 m²; only the sewer system in Paris had a larger collecting canal in Europe at that time. Grand Duke Friedrich I inaugurated the building with a boat trip.

Landgraben, entry point Lameyplatz

From 1893, faecal flushing was also permitted, because with the introduction of water closets, the mining operations for faeces ended. Since the Alb should not be polluted even more, it was decided to build a sewage treatment plant.

Since then, at Lameyplatz in Mühlburg, a canal branches off northwards to the sewage treatment plant, which went into operation in 1913. Since October 2002, the city has been giving groups of visitors a glimpse into the underworld at the Lameyplatz entrance to the Landgraben. A specially built visitor footbridge leads directly over the flow channel to the more than 100 year old cast iron weir, which is still in service. Water still runs off through the original end of the ditch up to the Alb when there is a strong rush.

In the meantime, deeper canals have taken over the main tasks of the moat. However, it stores excess water in heavy rain when the current main canals are overloaded. The sandstone vault of the moat is a listed building.

literature

  • Ulrike Plate: The Landgraben in Karlsruhe. In: Monument Preservation in Baden-Württemberg , 27th year 1998, issue 4, pp. 239–243. ( PDF; 8.0 MB )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Civil Engineering Office of the City of Karlsruhe
  2. ↑ a b c Karlsruhe history lesson on ka-news.de
  3. ^ City of Karlsruhe: Open Monument Day 2004
  4. ^ City newspaper Karlsruhe

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