Minnewater
Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 58 ″ N , 3 ° 13 ′ 26 ″ E
The Minnewater is an elongated lake in the center of Bruges . It is surrounded by parts of the medieval fortress Begijnenvest , on the part of which the street of the same name runs, and the Minnewater Park, which was laid out between 1977 and 1979. A street of the same name runs north of the lake.
Geography and water management
Several tributaries and streams flowed into the Reie south of Bruges . For example, shortly before crossing the moat , the Kerkebeek flowed into the Reie. The water reached Bruges via the Minnewater.
The Minnewater was probably built in the 13th century as a reservoir and buffer basin, when the locks that regulated the city's water supply were built near the current lock house. The different water levels in the Reie posed the risk that the low-lying parts of Bruges would be flooded when the snow melted or during heavy, persistent rainfall . This became a problem when Bruges expanded and the previously uninhabited areas such as the Meersen were settled.
Until 1784, Minnewater was the berth for the Ghent barge , when it then anchored at Katelijnepoort, the then city gate.
origin of the name
The origin of the name is not clearly proven.
One theory is that it is a derivative of "Middenwater" (a bowl). Another idea names “Minnen” as a synonym for “driving”, since the water of the Reie can be regulated through the lock.
The Belgian historians Louis Gilliodts and Karel De Flou are like Albert Schouteet of the opinion that Minne is a synonym for "Meene" (municipality) and that Minnewater therefore means "communal water".
The Belgian philologist Frans Debrabandere doubts the sound distortion from 'meene' to 'amne'. He joins the linguist Maurits Gysseling , who says that the name of the water is derived from the German castle ruins of Minnebrug . The medieval popular belief was that mink or water spirits and water devils haunted large surfaces of water and lived under bridges.
Adjacent buildings
On the east bank is the striking neo-Gothic castle of the noble family de la Faille , which was built in 1893 based on a design by the architect Karel De Wulf .
The former building of the Minnewater Clinic is located on the west side of the Professor Doktor Joseph Sebrechtsstraat. After the neo-Gothic 175-meter-long building initially functioned as a Catholic hospital and was occupied by the German occupying forces from 1917 during the First World War , the nuns returned first, who used it until 1933. From 1947 to 1977 it was used by Professor Doctor Joseph Sebrechts as the operating room of the adjoining St. John's Hospital. It is currently used as a residential and care center with a palliative department.
At the bridge is the Poertoren Tower, which under the regime of that time served as an ammunition store . Poer is a dialect word for gunpowder .
Northeast of the Minnewater is a short street of the same name, which was previously called "Eight Beatitudes" (Eight Beatitudes), and leads into the Minnewaterpark.
Legend
At the time when the Romans began to conquer Gaul , a sailor retired in Bruges and lived there with his only and at the same time beautiful daughter Minna . At the time, Bruges was still a small settlement surrounded by forests and swamps. Knowing that his life was limited, he looked for a suitable bridegroom for his daughter. He chose the young man Horneck , who occasionally came to visit.
However, Minna had already come to know and love Stromberg, a warrior from the neighboring tribe. She knew that her father did not appreciate the neighboring tribe and hid Stromberg from him. Minna kept postponing the introduction of her lover because she wanted to avoid a difference of opinion.
With the arrival of the Romans in the country, all the tribes went to war. So also Stromberg, who had previously received the promise of love and loyalty from Minna.
Minna was able to convince her father for a while that she was still too young for marriage . When his patience ran out, he decided that the marriage to Horneck should be consummated at the third sunrise . Minna despaired and was torn between the promise to Stromberg and the will of her father. The night before the third sunrise she fled into the forest and hid there.
After the end of the war, Stromberg returned some time later. When he heard that Minna had disappeared, he began an arduous search. He finally found her in the thick thicket on the bank of a wide stream. However, the exhausted Minna died in the arms of her lover.
As a result, Stromberg initially wanted to take his own life. Then he decided to honor Minna's place of death. He built a hut, laid a dam in the stream and dug a grave in the dry stream bed , in which he laid Minna. Then he let the water run again.
At the bank, where he had found Minna, he put a heavy boulder , where he "Minna-WATER" as a souvenir of Minna chiseled . It would be the same spot where the tower was later built that still dominates Minnewater today.
literature
- Adolphe Duclos: Bruges, Histoire et Souvenirs , Bruges, 1919 ( online )
- Marc Ryckaert: Historical city atlas van België . Bruges, Brussels, 1991, p. 29.
- Frans Debrabandere: De plaatsnaam Minnewater , in: Brugs Ommeland, 1994, pp. 5-12
- Luc Devliegher: De waternaam Minnewater , in: Biekorf, 2003, pp. 12-15.
- Frans Debrabandere: Nogmaals het Minnewater , in: Biekorf, 2003, pp. 144–145.
- Marc Ryckaert: Het Minnewater in of voor 1822 , in: Brugge die Scone, 2014.
- Chris Weymeis: Brugge, van Academiestraat tot Zwijnstraat , Deel 4: L - 0, Bruges, 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ M. De Duytsche: De Zusters van Liefde van Jezus en Maria en de Minnewaterkliniek te Brugge . De Gidsenkring, 1986 ( montanusbrugge.be [PDF]).
- ↑ Poertoren. Retrieved April 15, 2020 (Dutch).