Spiegelschleife (Dresden)

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The Kurfürstliche Spiegel-Schleif- und Polierfabrik (mirror loop for short) was, besides the cannon boring mill and powder mill, the third sovereign industrial plant in the Dresden district of Löbtau and was located approx. 200 meters above the powder mill on the left bank of the Weißeritzmühlgraben . It was built in 1712 as a precious stone grinding and polishing mill and converted into a mirror loop in 1715. After almost a hundred years of use, it was largely destroyed in 1813. The following years were characterized by multiple changes of ownership and function, finally the site was used by a chocolate factory from 1878 , before the buildings were destroyed in 1945 and later removed.

Prehistory and conversion to a mirror grinding and polishing factory

Weißeritz with a branching off Weißeritzmühlgraben, on which the powder, grinding, paper mill and raft yard are located

On the site of the later Spiegelschleife, Kammer- und Bergrat H. Georg Gabriel Wichmannshausen built an iron hammer in 1700 . At the instigation of August the Strong , Wichmannshausen sold his system to the electoral chamber for 2,000 thalers in 1710. The iron hammer was probably completely demolished and replaced by a new building in the same place.

After the machines had been installed, the plant could be put into operation in 1712 as a gemstone grinding and polishing mill. Eight stone saws for cutting the precious stone raw material (including jasper and agate ) and another eight machines for grinding and polishing the individual pieces were driven by an undershot water wheel.

Soon, however, the company came to a standstill due to a lack of financial resources. Even the elector was not ready to give further grants, but he saw the production of mirrors as a lucrative possibility for the further use of this mill. As early as 1715, without major modifications to the production buildings, the prerequisites were created by installing new machines to operate the electoral mirror grinding and polishing factory here. From then on, raw glass from the Friedrichsthaler Glashütte was processed here by grinding, cutting, polishing, covering with foil and joining together to create high-quality mirrors.

Used as a mirror grinding and polishing factory until 1813

A site plan from 1787 shows the structure of the facility. Next to the main house from 1712 was the foil beating, which burned down in 1759 and was rebuilt in the 1760s. In the middle of the site was the voucher house built in 1736, with various sheds on the sides of the property. The workers' house built in 1787 by the Rentkammer formed the northern end . The approximately 2,700 square meter property was completely surrounded by a wooden fence and had two exits to the city and to Plauen .

The Rentkammer ran the company from 1715 to 1743, and despite all efforts and structural improvements, there was no economic success. That is why it was decided in 1744 to lease the facility. Manufacturing difficulties and sales stagnation caused by the chaos of the war left private tenants no chance either, so that the Rentkammer took over the plant again in 1783. In the course of the Wars of Liberation , the fate of the Spiegelschleife was finally sealed. After a bombardment in August 1813 caused only minor damage, there was already considerable damage in October. A fire started by Russian troops on November 5, 1813 then completely destroyed the mill. The idea of ​​rebuilding was finally abandoned when the Friedrichsthaler Glashütte fell to Prussia as a result of the Congress of Vienna .

Use after 1813 until destruction in 1945

The ruined site was sold in 1820, and a new building was built on the old plan. Initially, the builder ran a cotton mill here, but there was another change of ownership in 1829, who built an oil mill into the building. In the following years there were several changes of ownership and function. Around 1860 the two small, undershot waterwheels were expanded and a large one was installed. Finally, in 1873, the manufacture of wooden household and kitchen utensils, followed by straw dyeing and tobacco roasting, can be verified on the site of the old Spiegelschleife.

Former Lippold chocolate factory

In 1878 the property was bought by the merchant E. Lippold. He used the building until 1945 for his chocolate factory, which served as a supplier for other chocolate factories, such as B. Otto Rüger or Hartwig & Vogel was active. In 1909 he expanded the waterwheel, first replacing it with an older type of turbine and finally in 1911 with two Francis turbines , each with 20 hp. The bombing of Dresden in 1945 resulted in the extensive destruction of all buildings; today there is a mechanical engineering company on the site of the old mirror loop.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dr. Ing.Hanns Frommhold: Mirror loop, powder mill and cannon boring mill - 3 electoral industrial plants on the Weißeritz in Dresden, page 17, Dresden 1929
  2. ↑ Dr. Ing.Hanns Frommhold: Mirror loop, powder mill and cannon boring mill - 3 electoral industrial plants on the Weißeritz in Dresden, page 19, Dresden 1929
  3. ↑ Communications of the Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Volume XXII, Issue 7/9, page 211f., Dresden 1933
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Müller: Stories from old Dresden - With the Weißeritzmühlgraben through our city. 1st edition. Hille, Dresden 2011, ISBN 978-3-939025-23-8 .

literature

  • Hanns Frommhold: mirror loop, powder mill and cannon boring mill - 3 electoral industrial plants on the Weißeritz in Dresden. Dresden 1929
  • Adolf Hantzsch: The mirror loop near Dresden . Dresden 1883 ( digitized version )

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 20 "  N , 13 ° 42 ′ 26"  E