Mühlendammschleuse (Rostock)
The Mühlendammschleuse is a lock on the Warnow in Rostock . It is located in the southwest of the city and connects the two centuries of the Mühlendamm dividing the river into Ober- and Unterwarnow .
function
The lock and the nearby weir are part of the river's barrage. It serves the lake-side flood protection and at the same time the drinking water protection, since the Hanseatic city Rostock gets its drinking water from the surface water of the Warnow. The difference in height at the barrage is on average 26 cm between the upper and lower water. Due to the location of the barrage between inland and coastal waters and the considerable fluctuations in the water level in the underwater area, the water level can be both below and above the inland water level. In order to be able to lock vehicles under all conceivable conditions, the lock was equipped with double-sided lifting gates. The chamber length of the lock is 52.30 m, the chamber width 6.60 m. The lock is owned by the federal government.
history
The Warnow, a 155 km long river, was the lifeline of Rostock in the past centuries because it was navigable up to its confluence with the Baltic Sea. A weir to operate water mills was built on Mühlendamm as early as the Middle Ages . With this Mühlendamm, the river was separated between the fresh water of the Oberwarnow and the brackish water of the Unterwarnow, which was mixed with the Baltic Sea . Navigable locks in the area of the Mühlendamm have apparently been around for centuries, the oldest known depiction can be found in the "True Geometric Floor Plan of the City of Rostock" from 1653 by Caspar Merian .
In the middle of the 19th century, a waterway connection from Rostock via Bützow and Güstrow to Berlin was considered, which made a new, larger ship lock necessary. It should form the beginning of this shipping connection. There is also an extensive document with the title: "Lecture and request from the Mecklenburg Canal Association regarding the construction of a lock on Mühlendamm in Rostock". In it it says u. a .:
- The unanimous view of the members of the association present was expressed in the fact that the interests of Rostock urgently required that the construction of that lock at the city's expense should not be hesitated any longer, since it alone would not be of considerable local benefit for our city, but also the accelerated construction of the same for the creation of the Rostock-Berlin shipping canal is of decisive influence. and ends with the most devoted request: ... to have the construction of the lock on Mühlendamm carried out as quickly as possible at the expense of the city according to the Hessian project.
Even more impressive was a petition by hundreds of Rostock citizens on August 6, 1881. The introduction to the 3 cm thick pile of signatures read:
- The citizens and residents of the city of Rostock, who signed with great devotion, were guided by the consideration:
1. That the construction of the planned Rostock-Berlin shipping canal will begin with the construction of the planned shipping lock on the local Mühlendamm, and that this enterprise will come about , which is of outstanding importance for the trade, shipping and transport interests and the prosperity of the entire population of Rostock, the construction of the imaginary shipping lock will have a decisive influence;
2. that the execution of this shipping lock, quite apart from the planned Rostock-Berlin shipping canal, is of the greatest value for the local interests of Rostock; and
3. that in relation to the major interests in question for our city, the capital required to build the lock does not appear to be significant, especially since we have proven otherwise in detail, the income from the lock levies and the income to be expected from the lock system An increase in shipping traffic, the increase in the city harbor dues, in addition to covering operating costs, will probably bring about an appropriate return on investment capital even in the event that free shipping should not be gained beyond Bützow;
join the well-founded request of the local committee for the construction of a shipping lock at the EE Rath on November 30th. J. and send the most sincere request to EE Rath: to
arrange the installation of the planned shipping lock on the local Mühlendamm at the expense of the city of Rostock.
The foundation stone for the construction of the lock took place on September 12, 1885. The first documented lock was on September 25, 1886 and final completion took until spring 1887. The lock on Rostock's Mühlendamm is one of the oldest - largely still intact - locks in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The waterway planned at the time was only implemented as far as Güstrow and no longer as far as Berlin. The Bützow-Güstrow Canal also dates from this time .
The lock was handed over to the state of Mecklenburg in 1915 and fell to the German Reich on the basis of the Reich Waterways Act of July 29, 1921 . Today the lock and the lock area as well as the part of the Oberwarnow up to the next railway bridge on the Stralsund – Rostock railway line are owned by the federal government. Until after 1945 there was extensive freight shipping traffic across the Warnow, especially between Bützow, Schwaan and Rostock to Warnemünde . Mainly bricks from the brickworks in Damm , Pölchow and Papendorf , sugar beets for the factory in Kassebohm as well as peat and coal were transported. Several excursion steamers also drove between Rostock, Kessin , Schwaan and Bützow until the 1980s . After 1950 there were hardly any barges left and the main traffic consisted of small motor boats and leisure boats. The Warnow developed into a center for water sports. The lock played a central role in this.
Current situation
Due to the new construction of the Mühlendamm Bridge, the lock was closed at the end of 2011. The bridge was completed in early 2015. The lock remains closed and is due to be backfilled with sand due to a lack of financial means for its renovation. A replacement in the form of a slipway is to be created for canoeists and paddlers . Some interest groups do not see this as a real substitute, as all larger boats over 300 kg cannot overcome this facility and thus can no longer fully navigate the Warnow. There are many activities to maintain the lock as a necessary facility for water tourism on the Warnow. A newly founded Mühlendammschleuse eV association actively supports the measures to maintain and restart the lock. For some years now, the federal government has been trying to hand over the lock and weir to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the Hanseatic city of Rostock. Since October 28, 2015 the monument status of the Mühlendammschleuse has been confirmed by the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Office for Culture and Monument Preservation.
photos
View into the lock basin towards Oberwarnow
View over the Oberhaupt to the Oberwarnow
View of the chief's double mortising gates
The lower head under the Mühlendamm Bridge
View of the Unterwarnow
literature
- Jürgen Rabbel: The locks on Rostock's Mühlendamm. In: Rostocker Zorenappels - Stadt-Schreiber-Geschichte (s). Volume 5, 2011, pp. 79-85, ZDB -ID 24265925 .
Web links
Coordinates: 54 ° 4 ′ 57.9 ″ N , 12 ° 9 ′ 16.4 ″ E