Pump stations of the Nymphenburg Palace
The pumping stations of Nymphenburg Palace in the west of Munich are water-powered systems that have operated the fountains of the Nymphenburg Palace Park for more than 200 years and also supplied parts of Nymphenburg Palace and the surrounding gardens with water until 1963 . They were already considered masterpieces at the time they were created and are considered to be the oldest machines in Europe that have been in constant use since they were built and a milestone in engineering.
Green fountain house
The oldest pumping station in Nymphenburg is the Grüner Brunnhaus in the so-called village of the palace gardens . It was built in 1720 under Elector Maximilian II Emanuel ("Max Emanuel") by Joseph Effner as a baroque pump house for the Badenburg and the fountains in its vicinity. It is located on the southern canal in the castle park at a point where the terrain slopes significantly to the north and which is therefore suitable for setting up water wheels. Maximilian III In 1754 Joseph had two ponds built for a beaver enclosure in the vicinity of the well house. In the course of the renovation of the fountain house, the fountain keeper's house with a forge, the beaver keeper's house and the later Hofgarten fountain house were built as residential houses for court servants.
In 1767 Francois Poitevin installed a baroque pumping station in the Green Fountain House. In the wooden construction, water was pumped to two high water towers next to the fountain house by means of a drive through water wheels . From there it was directed to the fountain on the garden ground floor, the water jet of which did not quite reach the height of the water level in the water towers in terms of energy conservation and flow losses.
In 1803 Joseph von Baader replaced this system with the two pumping stations still working today, the principle of which he described in his work Complete Theory of Suction and Lifting Pumps , published in 1797 . This system was not only more powerful, but also quiet and no longer caused the creaking noises that were perceived as annoying at court. To drive the two pumping stations, water is fed from the small branch channel in front of the well to two undershot water wheels in the middle part of the house. These water wheels were originally made of wood; it was not until 1900 that they were renewed in metal.
The western pumping station is driven by the smaller wheel, which is 4.70 m in diameter, 1.27 m wide and has 36 blades. The waterwheel moves three balance beams (balanciers) via an eccentric shaft reaching into the western area and long rods , at the ends of which pump rods are attached, which move the pump pistons up and down in the six vertical cylinders made of brass. Baader idea it was a between the pumps and the cast-iron pressure line to the jet air chamber insert is compressed in the at every pump movement of air, which provides for an increased and substantially consistent pressure in the line.
The pump stand and the beam bearings for the balance beam are made of oak. The bearing blocks, balancing rods, balance beams, piston rods and the air chamber are made of cast iron, the eccentric shaft is forged. The pump cylinders and pistons are made of brass. The pump pistons have a stroke of 65 cm. A little water flows from a small water pipe into the pump cylinder to keep the leather seals on the pistons supple.
The molded air tank bears the inscription:
"MAXIMILIANI IOSEPHI IV.
ELECTORIS
IUSSU & AUSPICIIS
construxit
IOSEPHUS BAADER
Inventor
MDCCCIII
( On the orders and under the rule of Elector Maximilian Joseph IV., The inventor Joseph Baader constructed (this) in 1803 )"
- The transcription took place : vowels "V" to "U", smaller uppercase lines to upper- lower case , "T" in the year to "III".
Downstream of the air chamber is an overpressure valve, the response pressure of which can be regulated by manually hanging a hanging weight with a grip ring in one of ten notches on the top of an approximately horizontal lever arm. A pressure gauge is used here to monitor the pressure.
This pumping station is still largely in its original condition.
The eastern pumping station is driven by the larger water wheel, which is 5.30 m in diameter, 1.50 m wide and has 48 blades. Its crankshaft reaching into the eastern area moves two balance beams and thus 4 pump pistons in cylinders with a clearance of 38 cm and a stroke of 68 cm. Here, too, some water flows into the pump cylinders for the leather seals. Two air vessels stand in the middle under the balance beam and act as their carriers. The crankshaft and the balancing and piston rods are forged, the bearing blocks, the supporting frame, the air chamber are made of cast iron, as are the balance beams, originally made of wood, which were replaced in 1850 when the pumping station was overhauled. At the pumping station there is a manometer signed by Franz Höss, Hofbrunnen master in Munich , in 1851 , which is one of the world's oldest valves still in use. Some tools from the time it was made are hung on the wall of the room.
The individual pump pistons work in a slightly offset manner in order to achieve a water flow that is as uniform as possible and thus pressure and thus a constant fountain height. The pressure lines of the two pumping stations leave the building at the rear above the drainage channels, where after a few meters they are combined into a single line to the fountain on the garden ground floor. Both pumping stations together have a maximum capacity of 55 liters per second.
Napoleon was so impressed by this fountain that he summoned Joseph von Baader to Paris in 1805 to work on the technical improvement of Marly's machine , i.e. H. to contribute to the water supply of Versailles Palace .
Johannisbrunnhaus
In the years 1807/08, Baader was also able to build a pumping station for the large fountain in front of the castle in the Johannisturm in the north wing of the castle. It is a comparatively powerful but compact system consisting of three overshot waterwheels, one behind the other, which drive six balance beams on their sides and a total of twelve pumps. The air tanks are cylindrical boxes that are arranged on both sides of the system between the balance beams.
The supporting frame, the water wheels and the balance beam were originally made of wood, but were renewed in all metal by the Hofbrunnen master Franz Höss in 1835 . The system is now made of cast iron, the piston rods are forged, the input boxes and the feed lines are made of copper and the pump cylinders are made of brass with a clearance of 29 cm and a stroke of 55 cm. In this pumping station, too, some water flows into the pump cylinders for the leather seals. The staggered work of the individual pumps is clearly visible in order to achieve the most even water pressure possible.
The water wheels have a diameter of 3.00 m, are 2.70 m wide and each have 30 blades. They are fed with water via an underground channel from the northern arm of the central channel, the drainage takes place via the deep channel in the northern part of the roundabout, which forms the beginning of the Nymphenburg-Biederstein Canal . With an average of 10 revolutions of the water wheels per minute, the pumping station has an output of 60 liters per second.
Hirschgartenbrunnhaus
In 1817/18 Joseph von Baader set up a small pumping station in the Hirschgartenbrunnhaus , located to the east of the Grüner Brunnhaus , which, as the Königliches Ökonomiebrunnhaus , supplied the court kitchen, the court confectionery, the menagerie and the royal deer garden with water. The overshot water wheel with a diameter of 2 m and a width of 2 m was driven via an underground inlet channel from the southern channel, which in turn moved a balance beam via an eccentric and a balancing rod and thus two pump pistons in brass cylinders with a clear diameter of 18 cm and a stroke of 55 cm. The system has an output of a maximum of 4 liters per second.
In the 20th century, the complex supplied parts of the Nymphenburg Palace and the surrounding allotment gardens. From the beginning and to the end, it served purely practical purposes. In 1963 the plant was shut down; the inlet from the southern canal was closed with a sheet metal plate.
Operation and administration
The pumping stations, like the castle and the castle park, are managed and operated by the Bavarian Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes . They can be viewed from Easter to the beginning of October every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the open doors and windows. Access to the well houses themselves is not possible.
Web links
- Michael Eckert : Nymphenburg Palace. Technology in the castle park. In: Viewpoints Munich Forum. March 2020, accessed April 15, 2020.
literature
- Michael Eckert : Physics in the palace gardens - the pleasure garden as the setting for new technology. Nymphenburg Palace, Versailles, Sanssouci. Munich 2020, ISBN 978-3-9623-3114-6 .
- Thomas Münster: Munich's old-timer machine technology: Johannisturm pump , Süddeutsche Zeitung from August 10, 1983.
- Franz Schiermeier: Munich city streams . Travel guide to the lifelines of a city. Verlag Franz Schiermeier, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-9813190-9-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Nymphenburg Palace Park, fountains and fountain works on the website of the Bavarian Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes
- ↑ The information in this article is mainly based on the explanatory panels at the pumping stations
- ↑ Joseph von Baader: Complete theory of suction and lifting pumps, and principles for their most advantageous arrangement, especially in consideration of mining and saltworks , 1797, quoted from the webOPAC of the Deutsches Museum
Coordinates: 48 ° 9 ′ 19.2 ″ N , 11 ° 29 ′ 54.1 ″ E