Mühlgraben (Gera)

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Mill moat
Restored bed of the Mühlgraben near the Wasserkunst (2009)

Restored bed of the Mühlgraben near the Wasserkunst (2009)

Data
location Gera , Thuringia , Germany
River system Elbe
Drain over White Elster  → Saale  → Elbe  → North Sea
source as a branch of the White Elster in Gera- Zwötzen
50 ° 51 '25 "  N , 12 ° 4' 41"  O
muzzle in Gera- Untermhaus again in the White Elster Coordinates: 50 ° 53 '40 "  N , 12 ° 3' 55"  E 50 ° 53 '40 "  N , 12 ° 3' 55"  E

length 6.4 km  (before piping)

The Geraer Mühlgraben is the right branch of the White Elster , which runs exclusively within the city limits of Gera.

course

Originally the Mühlgraben was a natural branch of the Elster, which also received the water from the Gessenbach including the Zaufensgraben as well as from the Leumnitzer Bach and Bieblacher Bach. Alternatively, the original Mühlgraben can also be viewed as the lower reaches of the Gessenbach, into which a branch of the Elster and the aforementioned brooks flowed. As with the Elster, its course often changed, especially after floods in the relatively wide and flat Elstertal there. The straightening and canalization in the course of the settlement of the valley were other factors that influenced the course of the mill ditch. Before it was piped in the mid-1960s, the Mühlgraben was an open river that was 6350 m long. His start he took as now above the large Elster weir in Gera- Zwötzen , which was built in the 17th century. It flowed through the city from south to north and crossed the center just a few meters west of the Goethe Gymnasium and Museum (former orphanage) . In Gera- Untermhaus it flowed with two arms around the pheasant island back into the Elster. The railway line through Gera built in the 19th century crosses the Mühlgraben twice. Since the Gessenbach often carried sediments from the Gessental after heavy rainfall and influenced the water quality of the Mühlgraben, it was diverted over the Mühlgraben in a trough bridge and then flowed directly into the Elster. With the reconstruction and redesign of the central part of Gera from the mid-1960s, the Mühlgraben was increasingly piped and disappeared from the cityscape. With the construction of the Südoststraßentangente, the Mühlgraben was led directly to the west into the Elster. In connection with the Federal Garden Show 2007 in Gera, efforts were made to renaturate the Mühlgraben and to include it again as open water in the cityscape and landscape, but the river bed has largely dried up even today.

History

The Mühlgraben was Gera's lifeline for centuries. Since ancient times it has been used for water supply and fishing, but also as a bathing and washing facility. In the Middle Ages, an official swimming area was designated not far from the Badertor. The first mills appeared shortly after the first millennium . Of the three official mills Angermühle, Klotzmühle and Hausmühle, the latter two were mentioned in a document in 1360. The stately fulling mill was used by cloth and fabric makers and in 1738 brought the lordship a rent of 360 guilders. After spending the night in the hotel "Grüner Baum", Goethe complained in his diary on August 18, 1813 that hammering in the fulling mill had made him sleepless. The Cubamühle was also built before 1500. Due to the water art built in 1766 near today's Himmelsleiter, water was pumped to the Geiersberg with the help of water power, from where it was mixed with spring water into the city as drinking water and brewing water for the numerous breweries. The coppersmith Hans Kleindienst wanted to build a hammer mill for metalworking at the Mühlgraben . He was denied this, however, and in 1575 he was obliged to build a second mill moat on the other bank of the Elster in order to operate this mill. This mill probably disappeared during the Thirty Years War , but the street "Am Kupferhammer" still indicates its earlier existence. All of the mentioned water mills on the Mühlgraben had undershot water wheels . The Gera textile industry , founded by Nikolaus de Smit and Balduin Konrad , used the water from the Mühlgraben to dye , wash, rinse and mill their products. Tanneries also settled on the Mühlgraben. In 1609 there were 31 tanners . Street names such as Färbergasse and Gerbergasse indicate the settlement of these businesses. In 1679, the use of the Mühlgraben was regulated by sovereign ordinance, the so-called Mühlgrabenrezess . From the middle of the 19th century, Carl Louis Hirsch built up his large dye works at Mühlgraben. Even in the 1950s, the Mühlgraben was clearly visible in a wide variety of colors on some days. In the 19th century, shortly before the mouth of the Mühlgraben, a veneer cutting mill was built, but it burned down in 1911. The Mühlgraben was also used by the judiciary. In the vicinity of Färbergasse, which was previously called “Behind the Basket”, convicts were punished with “basket traps” according to Article 39 of the Gera city ​​statutes of 1658.

The Geraer Wasserkunst

Water art Gera

Where the street “An der Himmelsleiter” meets the Geraer Mühlgraben is the old water art of Gera (Geschwister-Scholl-Str. 28).

Historical meaning

Through the Geraer Wasserkunst near today's Himmelsleiter (public staircase), water was pumped 60 meters higher to the Geraer Geiersberg in a reservoir with the help of a large undershot water wheel, from where it is mixed with spring water into the city as drinking water and brewing water for the numerous breweries and also fed public fountains.

History of water art

According to the website of the city of Gera (chronicle), there was a water wheel with a pumping system that was in the open as early as 1685. 1766 was under the count Heinrich XXX. the building of the water art was erected in the form preserved today and an inn was also built here (historical inscription plaque on the building).

According to a modern information sign (as of February 2019) on the building, the following historical data has been handed down:

  • Built in 1708 as a water art
  • 1867 Renewal of the pumping station
  • 1872 Installation of an additional steam engine
  • In 1890 the plant lost its importance with the establishment of the waterworks in Gera-Zwötzen and was sold to the Hirsch company
  • 1905 Construction of two settling basins for primary clarification of the water, which was then pumped into the water treatment plant
  • until approx. 1912 use of the building as a restaurant ("Alte Wasserkunst")
  • Partial use of the building until 1990
  • 1993 emergency security of the building

In 2010 the Wasserkunst building was restored after more than 15 years of vacancy, among other things with funding from the EU URBAN II program . The lead architect was Martin Kohl from Weimar .

Current use as a restaurant and preserved building fabric

Today (2019) the restored building is used as the “Restaurant Wasserkunst”. An outbuilding of the Wasserkunst formerly standing next to this building has not been preserved. On the upper floor of the Wasserkunst building there is a baroque door frame with a coat of arms and inscription plaque walled over it. The panel shows an inscription in Latin and the Latin year 1766 as well as a heraldic cartouche ( House Reuss , lion with crown) and two wild men , one of whom is the god of the sea and water Neptune (or: Poseidon), as he has a trident is shown in hand. The coat of arms and the inscription refer to the construction of the building by Count Heinrich XXX. Reuss and the establishment of an inn in the same year.

The dining room is located in the basement in the former pump room (previously: the water wheel room ). In addition, the restaurant's kitchen and warehouse were housed in the basement. Toilets and staff rooms are located on the mezzanine. The rooms on the upper floor have been restored and are made available for use by associations and private individuals for events and private celebrations. In the stairwell of the restaurant there are two information boards on the history and restoration of the Geraer Wasserkunst building. There is also an original drawing of water art from around 1920 by the Gera painter Hans Rudolph. Hans Rudolph (1905–1993) was a drawing teacher at the Zwötzen school around 1950 . Some preserved remains of the technical system are said to have been made inaccessible during the restoration. The water wheel and the additional steam engine were not preserved. The Mühlgraben still flows under the building. The building has a baroque mansard roof with dormer windows .

A beer garden was created in front of the building on the site of a former sedimentation basin.

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