Horst lock

Horst lock, view into the lock chamber towards the upper water

The Horst lock is a lock on the Ruhr in the Essen district of Burgaltendorf , opposite Essen-Horst . It was built at the instigation of King Friedrich II as one of a total of 16 Ruhr locks.

history

King Friedrich II had the Ruhr made navigable from 1774 to 1780, and so a weir ( Schlagd ) for damming and making it navigable and a lock chamber on the left bank of the river were built here by Baron von Wendt in 1774/75 . It was one of a total of 16 Ruhr locks between Langschede and Werden , which were important for the coal transport of the hard coal mining on the Ruhr. Today the lock consists of brickwork with cover plates made of natural stone. Since the closure of the Ruhr shipping in 1890, as a result of the emerging railway, the lock was no longer used.

After it became the property of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1982 , it was placed under monument protection in 1984 and extensively restored. To do this, the chamber walls had to be reinforced, the subsurface fastened and the lock deepened by two meters. Then new gates with steel frames and wooden planking were built based on the originals. The lock keeper's house no longer exists.

Current condition

With the help of the restored lock, river management can be carried out in a more time-saving, cost-effective and nature-friendly manner. Among other things, the bank of the Ruhr can be controlled better from the water and damage to the banks repaired than would be possible from land. In 1990 a fish ladder and a boat lane were built next to the lock .

The lock overcomes a height difference of 3.35 meters. In summer dry seasons, the pump station next to it serves to pump back up to 2200 liters of water per second at a height of 4.03 meters in order to maintain the water level for drinking water production.

At the beginning of May 2019, the Steeler Archive and the Burgaltendorf Home and Castle Association put up a plaque with historical background information on the lock on the bicycle and footpath that led past.

On the opposite side of the bank, at the other end of the weir, is the Horster Mühle hydroelectric power station , which, together with the weir and the lock, forms a well-preserved and listed technical ensemble.

Web links

Commons : Schleuse Horst  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Description of all locations on this themed route as part of the Route of Industrial Culture
• Excerpt from the list of monuments of the city of Essen (PDF; 1.6 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Petrareiber: Burgaltendorf: New information board looks at Horster Schleuse ; In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of May 13, 2019

Coordinates: 51 ° 25 ′ 43.2 "  N , 7 ° 6 ′ 49.8"  E