Saline brawn
The saltworks in Sülze was a salt production plant and was operated from the High Middle Ages until 1862. They essentially determined the history of the village of Sülze and the surrounding heath villages.
history
The beginning before 1381
The Saline in Sülze was first mentioned in a document in 1381 in a register of the collection of a pan interest. Even before this time, brine was extracted in Sülze and salt was extracted from it. With buckets and water-driven pumps, the brine was pumped up from the well built at the source and passed through a ditch, later via wooden pipelines, to the boiling houses, also known as Katen or Koten. In these, the water was evaporated by heating in boiling pans over a peat fire until the evaporated salt remained. The sheet pans were 4 m to 5 m × 3.50 m to 4.20 m × 32 cm to 39 cm deep. They held about 7 m³ of brine.
The development of the Sülzer brine was significantly promoted by the dukes of the Principality of Lüneburg , who wanted to use this to create a counterweight to the city of Lüneburg . Due to the salt trade, Lüneburg was able to achieve extensive independence from the sovereign. However, if you look at the quantities obtained, the superiority of the Lüneburg salt works becomes clear. While in the Hanseatic city an average of 110,000 t were extracted annually, in Sülze it was just 4,000 t. In addition, the salt content of the brine, which was up to 25% in Lüneburg, reached an average of only 5% in Sülze, making it hardly possible to work economically.
The rights to mine salt lay with the Lüneburg dukes, but they were leased to the owners of the boiling pans .
In the 17th century
Over the centuries, the boiling points had to be relocated to the surrounding villages several times due to a lack of fuel. All of the peat areas directly adjacent to Sülze had already been dismantled, and productive management on site was no longer possible. In the years from 1673 to 1678 the boiling points were moved from the Twießelhoper Moor (Ostermoor) to the Bornriethmoor . Two salt pans, each with two boiling pans, and a lickwork system approx. 170 to 200 m long, approx. 14 m high and approx. 7.50 m wide, were built. The peat was brought in via a specially dug ship ditch (the course of this canal can still be seen in part today). The brine came from brawn via wooden pipes. A drill mill for the production of brine pipes from tree trunks was built near the bog. The tubes were made of fir trunks, had a length of 5.80 m to 6.70 m and a bore opening of 5 inches (= 12.14 cm). The drilled out tree trunks were put together to form a line. For this purpose, the drill hole was enlarged conically at one end of the trunk , and the other end of the trunk was given a point. The joints were carefully sealed. The line was usually laid underground so that the wood did not rot so quickly.
In the 18th century
Already in 1719 first considerations were made to relocate the boiling points again, as the Bornriethmoor was exhausted. 10 to 15 million pieces of peat were required annually. In the period from 1719 to 1725, the brine pipeline was then moved through the “Everser Busch” to the newly emerging village of Altensalzkoth in “Scheuer Bruch” . For this purpose, the existing pipeline from Lindhorst was first laid along the Örtze , eastwards past Eversen , to the Salzkaten in Altensalzkoth. Part of this tube dam is still preserved today at Eversen. The route had a length of more than 3 km. Since the brine now had to be routed over long distances, new problems arose. On the “Zuckenberg” the brine was pumped 5 m high by a water-operated pump (“ Zucke ”) in order to achieve the required natural gradient. A lot of brine was lost on the way through leaks in the pipes. They also got constipated regularly. As a result, productive economic activity was soon no longer possible here either. As early as 1734, the first considerations were made to move it back to Bornriethmoor. But the plan remained. It was not until 1793, which was probably the main reason for the delay, that the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763) began to move the boiling points to Sülze. In 1798 the relocation was completed. The continued lack of fuel was attempted to be countered by an improved transport system. The peat from the surrounding moors was now brought to Sülze with horse and ox carts.
1862 the end
Operations ceased in 1862. The salt springs were filled in. A Georg Wilhelm Hahse is named as the last saline inspector.
2012 Opening of the saltworks museum
On August 26th, the saltworks museum was opened in the saltworks information house in the Bürgerpark as part of a small celebration. In addition to some display and information boards, there is also a model of the salt works and an original brine pipe.
literature
- August Theiss - The history of the Saline zu Sülze (1979)
