Powder Tower (Mainz)
The Powder Tower in Mainz was the Martinsturm of the Mainz Fortress that was used as the Powder Tower in the last 50 years of its existence . He was particularly well known for the powder tower explosion on the afternoon of November 18, 1857 .
history
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The Martinsturm came from the Middle Ages and was the outer Gautorturm; originally it was called the outer Gaupforte. When around 1660–1670 under Johann Philipp von Schönborn the Martinsbastion became part of the contiguous fortress of the city of Mainz and the two other Gaupforte were laid down, the outer Gaupforte was preserved as Martinsturm. The building was used as a storey house, i.e. as a military detention center. The Gautor , built after 1670 and resigned in 1896, replaced the old Gaupforten.
Powder tower explosion
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The Martinsturm had been used as a powder magazine since the 19th century until it exploded at 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18, 1857. At that time there were 208 quintals of primers and over 600 flares in the magazine. Within a few seconds, 57 houses on the Kästrich were destroyed; Major property damage was caused to another 64 buildings and the fortifications. The nearby St. Stephen's Church was also badly damaged. But it also served as a kind of protective shield for the rest of the city. The resulting pressure wave destroyed windows in the Mainz Cathedral and in the Quintinskirche . Stones flew into the Rhine and to Bauhofstrasse. A gable stone of 1,366 pounds flew up to the ball court . The entire guards of the gate guard (34) in front of the Gautor were killed; Soldiers of the Prussian Guards field artillery who drilled in the fortress moat were also killed or wounded. At least 157 people died in total, but the number of Austrians killed remained a military secret.
Despite this far-reaching damage, the fortress and town were lucky, because just a few days earlier there were around 700 quintals of ammunition in the depot. The cause of the explosion, which was attributed to an act of revenge by an Austrian corporal, could never be clarified.
A gymnastics festival for the Austrian officers' corps was planned for this day , including the entire garrison and Grand Duke Ludwig III. , the Duke of Nassau Adolf I and the Landgrave Ferdinand von Hessen-Homburg were invited. The princes escaped the misfortune only because of a short-term cancellation of this festival.
The fortress crew successfully prevented a chain reaction of the connected powder stores by flooding the mine tunnels near the Martinsturm, in which ammunition was also stored. At that time there were a total of 12,000 quintals of ammunition in the city. The disaster area was cordoned off the next day by the garrison troops, as a brisk disaster tourism developed. The occupation of the garrison at that time consisted of the 39th infantry regiment under Alfred Ludwig Freiherr von Degenfeld , the 34th and 37th infantry regiments as well as the Deutz cuirassiers and the Windischgrätz dragoons .
Later use
District master builder Ignaz Opfermann took the necessary reconstruction measures as an occasion for a comprehensive planning of the Kästrich area and the Kupferberg terrace.
In October 1933 the building at Powder Tower 13 was built for the “State School for Art and Crafts”. After the war, this building served as a makeshift theater, concert hall and, until the city hall opened in 1974, as the seat of the city administration. At that time, “the powder tower” in Mainz meant this building. Since then it has housed various administrative facilities, the Rhineland-Palatinate Tumor Center and several university institutes . Some parking spaces are located in the old ramparts of the fortress.
Monuments
- Memorial to commemorate the explosion of the powder tower, Mainzer Hauptfriedhof
- Giebelstein vom Powder Tower, Ballplatz (683 kg, had been thrown 470 meters to there in the powder tower explosion in 1857)
- The street in which the tower stood is still called "Am Pulverturm" today
References
literature
- Ellen Hennesen, With the means at our disposal - Needs and relief measures after the powder tower explosion of 1857, Mainz: Quarterly books for culture, politics, economy, history, No. 22/2002, 4, pp. 57-60.
- Ellen Hennesen, Every house has its story - from the reconstruction of the old Kästrich after the powder explosion in 1857, Mainz: Quarterly Issues for Culture, Politics, Economy, History, No. 24/2004, 4, pp. 72–75.
Web links
- regionalgeschichte.net - The powder tower explosion in Mainz 1857
- History of the Mainz professional fire brigade
- History of Franz Xaver Klingelschmitt (1835-1892)
More black powder explosion accidents
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 59 ′ 37.9 " N , 8 ° 15 ′ 54.7" E