Lower fountain tower

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The Lower Well Tower (2014)
The Zirbelnuss Canal Bridge from 1848. The Innere Stadtgraben flows above, the Stadtbach below .

The Untere Brunnenturm or Untere Wasserturm is a water tower in Augsburg and a monument to Augsburg's historical water management (as a monument in Augsburg-Bleich and Pfärrle ). It is located on the slope edge of the Mauerberg (Springergäßchen 4) above its former pump house, today's cinema "Liliom" (Unterer Graben 1), and is also called the water tower "am Mauerberg" or "at the seven children" after the eponymous House nearby.

The Lower Brunnenwerk or Lower Waterworks , which is also a listed building today, was the second largest waterworks in the city after the waterworks at the Red Gate from the first half of the 16th century until 1879 . Its water tower supplied the entire “lower town”, as well as large fountains at Frauentor and St. Stephan , and until the end of its operation in 1879 also part of Jakobervorstadt .

Since 1848 there has been next to the pump house, near the house "bei den seven Kindeln", the stone walnut canal bridge , a cast iron canal bridge made of four sections 12.3 m long and 2 m wide with a water crossing where a canal ( today the inner city moat ) crosses another (the city ​​stream ). This water crossing still exists today, is also a listed building and can be seen from the footpath next to the cinema.

history

The Machina Augustana with seven Archimedean screws on top of each other.
The Lower Fountain Tower 1886

The lower well tower was built, similar to the box tower , on the foundation walls of an old defensive tower from the late Middle Ages on the Augsburg city wall . It was first mentioned as a water tower in 1502. The tower has a rectangular cross-section and has been raised several times over the course of history.

16th Century

In 1538 the lower well tower was improved and raised, and a separate pump house was built at its feet. This now drove a machine of seven Archimedean screws , which were arranged vertically one above the other and moved by a common vertical shaft over wooden gear gears . This Machina Augustana was described in detail by the Milanese scholar Hieronymus Cardanus in 1554 . The water from the city stream served to drive the machine, while the water that was lifted up by the screws was that of the Brunnenbach stream .

17th and 18th centuries

Around 1684, the water tower was raised by three more floors to double its height. At that time the Machina Augustana had already been replaced by waterwheel-operated crank pump stations. In 1737 the chairman of the Lower Waterworks Caspar Walter increased the number of crank pump stations from three to four. After proving his skills at this waterworks, he later became Augsburg city fountain master.

19th century

In 1821 the pumping machine was again replaced by a more modern one. The Bavarian engineer Georg von Reichenbach , one of the most important mechanics of his time, was commissioned for this. His solution to the problem, the so-called Reichenbach water machine , which was mainly made of cast iron , doubled the amount of water pumped. In addition, the water quality could be improved by using sources near the waterworks instead of the water from the Brunnenbach.

In 1865 the Reichenbach water machine was replaced by an even more modern one. This was manufactured by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg, the forerunner of MAN in 1870, a cast-iron pavilion was added to the lower water tower in order to maintain an even higher line pressure. This no longer exists today. After the Augsburg water supply was changed in 1879, the lower water tower and its pump house were no longer needed as such. The buildings were not demolished, but rebuilt and given other uses. Among other things, they housed a file cutting shop, a grinding shop, various mechanical workshops and a machine factory.

today

The "Liliom" cinema, behind it the lower fountain tower (2014)

Today the tower is privately inhabited. A remnant of the city wall from the 15th century is still visible on it. The former pump house has been used as a cinema, bar and restaurant since 1989. In the entrance foyer of the cinema you can still see the city stream flowing through it through a glass floor, and in the lower guest room you can still find the large stone blocks that once served as supports for the water wheels .

literature

  • Wilhelm Ruckdeschel: Industrial culture in Augsburg . Brigitte Settele Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-932939-44-1 , p. 24 ff .
  • Wilhelm Ruckdeschel, Klaus Luther: Technical monuments in Augsburg. A guided tour through the city . ? Edition. Brigitte Settele Verlag, Augsburg 1984, p. 33 ff .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Ruckdeschel, Klaus Luther: Technical monuments in Augsburg. A guided tour through the city . ? Edition. Brigitte Settele Verlag, Augsburg 1984, p. 33 .
  2. ^ Hieronymus Cardanus, De Subtilitate , 1554
  3. ^ Wilhelm Ruckdeschel, Klaus Luther: Technical monuments in Augsburg. A guided tour through the city . ? Edition. Brigitte Settele Verlag, Augsburg 1984, p. 34.37 .
  4. ^ Martin Kluger: Historical water management and water art in Augsburg. Canal landscape, water towers, fountain art and water power . 2nd Edition. Context Verlag, Augsburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-939645-50-4 , p. 75 f .

Web links

Coordinates: 48 ° 22 ′ 20.1 ″  N , 10 ° 54 ′ 0.9 ″  E