Rettenbach (Winterthur)

Part of the former Stadtbach Canal made of Würenlos lime with brick vaults

The Rettenbach , also called Stadtbach within the city center , was a tributary of the Eulach , which flowed through the old town of Winterthur in the Middle Ages and supplied the city with process water .

history

The Rettenbach in Winterthur was probably built in the second half of the 12th century, a dendrochronological dating of a wooden post used for the Stadtbach in Steinberggasse showed that the tree used for this was felled around 1185. At this time, the first trenches and the fortifications around Winterthur were dug, during which large amounts of gravel were dug, which was used to level the streets and at the same time leveled the streets so that a slight slope to the west was created. so that Stadtbach could flow through the old town. The first Stadtbach Canal was reinforced with wickerwork and stones on the side walls and presumably flowed into the city at Obergasse and then divided into two courses: One brook ran over the entire Neustadtgasse and then down Marktgasse back into the Eulach. The second run went down into today's Steinberggasse and ran over Neumarkt and merged with the other arm of the stream after Bosshardengässchen.

With the construction of the new town in the east in the 13th century, the course of the town stream also changed. By then, it should no longer have flowed into the city via Obergasse, but via Neustadt in the east. Today's Rettenbachweg with its sloping course provides an indication of the course of the Stadtbach through the newly created district. The division into the two well-known arms of the stream took place at Marktgasse at the level of Obergasse. With this change in the course of the river, the alleys also had to be revitalized: the old town stream was filled with gravel, in the Obergasse the backfill height was around 40 cm, and archaeological investigations also found historically valuable leather remains in the backfill. The new city stream was laid out with board cladding. While the Stadtbach Winterthur supplied process water to the Eulach, in the 13th century a spruce wood pipe for the fresh water supply of the city was also found for the first time in the Obergasse.

The course of the brook shouldn't change for the next centuries at least, only the type of border, which later consisted of stone. Incidentally, the Stadtbach not only served as a water supply, but also as a sewer until it was covered: every Saturday morning it was flooded for this purpose in order to wash away the rubbish thrown in by the residents.

In 1835 the Stadtbach was covered and disappeared from the Winterthur townscape. Today, on the one hand, the sloping course of Bosshardengässchen and the Rettenbachweg still bear witness to the course of the brook, and the course of the brook is also marked on the ground at various locations in the old town, for example at Graben. The Judd fountain in Steinberggasse, built in 1997 , was also deliberately laid out along the course of the former Stadtbach. Former sewer pipes from the Stadtbach are still on display in the Lindengutpark.

etymology

The name Rettenbach was mentioned for the first time in 1349 and already then in the form. Other well-known names were Retenbach (1536, 1801), Redtennbach (1469) and the misnomer Rattenbach (1840/1850). The name Rettenbach can probably be derived from the verb "save". The genus verbi is not easy to make out according to Rutishauser, but he keeps the old genus mediopassivisch likely, "the creek, with its water to save."

The well-known name Stadtbach is probably a later name used for certain sections in the city center.

Individual evidence

^ Renata Windler: Winterthur city history . From the beginning to 1850. Volume 1 . Chronos Verlag, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-0340-1212-6 , “Vitudurum” and “Winterture” - from the beginnings to the city around 1300, p. 57-59 .
^ Marquita and Serge Volken, Werner Wild: Leather finds of the 13th century from the Winterthurer Stadtbach . In: Kantonsarchäologie Zürich (Ed.): Archeology in the Canton of Zürich 1999-2000 . 16th report, 2002, ISBN 978-3-905681-00-0 , pp. 237-270 .
^ Renata Windler: Winterthur city history . From the beginning to 1850. Volume 1 . Chronos Verlag, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-0340-1212-6 , “Vitudurum” and “Winterture” - from the beginnings to the city around 1300, p. 90-91 .
↑ Manuel Bühlmann: When garbage was thrown into the stream with a clear conscience . In: Southeastern Switzerland . January 29, 2014 ( suedostschweiz.ch ).
↑ All about wastewater in the city of Winterthur. Stadtwerk Winterthur, accessed on November 8, 2015 .
↑ Jörg Rutishauser: The names of the running waters in the Winterthur district . In: New Year's Gazette of the Winterthur City Library . No. 298 . Buchdruckerei Konkordia, Winterthur 1967, p. 92, 167 & 168 .

[1] Renata Windler: Winterthur city history . From the beginning to 1850. Volume 1 . Chronos Verlag, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-0340-1212-6 , “Vitudurum” and “Winterture” - from the beginnings to the city around 1300, p. 57-59 .

[2] Marquita and Serge Volken, Werner Wild: Leather finds of the 13th century from the Winterthurer Stadtbach . In: Kantonsarchäologie Zürich (Ed.): Archeology in the Canton of Zürich 1999-2000 . 16th report, 2002, ISBN 978-3-905681-00-0 , pp. 237-270 .

[3] Renata Windler: Winterthur city history . From the beginning to 1850. Volume 1 . Chronos Verlag, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-0340-1212-6 , “Vitudurum” and “Winterture” - from the beginnings to the city around 1300, p. 90-91 .

[4] Manuel Bühlmann: When garbage was thrown into the stream with a clear conscience . In: Southeastern Switzerland . January 29, 2014 ( suedostschweiz.ch ).

[5] All about wastewater in the city of Winterthur. Stadtwerk Winterthur, accessed on November 8, 2015 .

[6] Jörg Rutishauser: The names of the running waters in the Winterthur district . In: New Year's Gazette of the Winterthur City Library . No. 298 . Buchdruckerei Konkordia, Winterthur 1967, p. 92, 167 & 168 .