Water tower (Grimmen)

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Grimmen water tower
Water tower
Data
Construction year: 1933
Construction: Walter Höflinger
Tower height: 32.5 m
Container volume: 150 m³
Original use: Drinking water supply from Grimmen
Shutdown: 1960s
Todays use: City information, exhibitions, wedding room, viewing platform
Monument protection: Cultural monument

The Grimmen water tower is located at the Greifswalder Tor in Langen Straße 21a in the West Pomeranian town of Grimmen .

Building

The cylindrical tower has a height of 32.5 m, an outer diameter of 8.15 m and an inner diameter of 7.15 m. It is clad on the outside with bricks from the old brick factory in Grimmen. A stairwell bay extends over the pointed arched entrance portal to the viewing level. 116 steps inside and 25 outside steps lead upwards. The container area is separated from the shaft of the tower by a narrow cornice. Above this is the row of windows surrounding the viewing level. An octagonal, with copper sheet covered spire completes the structure. The water tank was originally able to hold 150 m³ of water.

history

On June 30, 1933, the city's magistrate decided that a water pipe with a waterworks should be built in Grimmen . At Christmas 1933 the waterworks with the water tower was put into operation, the construction of the tower was carried out by the Walter Höflinger company from Grimmen. The tower and waterworks were inaugurated on February 14, 1934.

During the Second World War , Grimmen was handed over to the Soviet Army without a fight. The tower was not - as intended by the NSDAP - blown up and remained in the city.

Since the water supply for the rapidly growing city of Grimmen no longer met the needs, a new waterworks was put into operation in 1963 after the foundation of VEB Erdöl-Erdgas Grimmen (1962). The disused tower stood empty unused for many years. In the 1970s, VEB Erdöl-Erdgas-Grimmen expanded the water tank for scrap extraction.

Rehabilitation and excavations

The decommissioned water tower was given a new roof construction in 1989, a glazed viewing platform and was renovated after 1991 as part of the urban development subsidy. The opening took place on September 28, 2002. The State Office for Land Monument Preservation Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was involved in the renovation, as the hill on which the tower stands is considered a ground monument . Carl Coppius carried out the first excavations in 1876, 1877 and 1886. Further excavations took place in the course of laying the foundations in 1933. Hand-painted bricks , burnt pieces of wood and animal bones as well as medieval pottery shards were found. Between October to December 2001 and January to May 2002 two further archaeological excavations took place. Remnants of the foundations of the former royal residence from the Middle Ages were uncovered. In the south of the tower, parts of the arch approach from the 15th century were found. Since it is around 100 years younger than the Greifswalder Tor , it cannot have marked the entrance to the city, but rather must have enabled access to the land of the sovereign. Furthermore, the remains of the foundations of the city wall were exposed. The excavations resulted in a total of 14,314 individual finds, including 3,299 ceramic discs that were assigned to a pottery. Some selected finds can be viewed in an exhibition in the tower, e.g. B. a "Soesling" (a coin) from the mint master Handschen from 1622, which was created under Johann Albrecht II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow . You can also see a small cube from the 14th century that was made from a bone. The exhibition also features two brass taps that could be assigned to the late 16th or 17th century, as well as a fragment of an aquamanile , a watering vessel in the shape of an animal from the 14th / 15th centuries . Century.

Todays use

The tower has been the location of the Grimmen City Information Center since 2002 . On the tower floor there is a meeting room from which one has a wide view over the city and the river landscape on the Trebel .

Overview of current usage:

  • Level 1: City information reception
  • Level 2: City information office
  • Level 3: Exhibition of the archaeological excavation results
  • Level 4: wedding room with changing art exhibitions
  • Level 5: sanitary area
  • Level 6: changing art exhibitions
  • Level 7: viewing level.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Flyer of the Trebeltal e. V., small projects, local action for employment, water tower active: city ​​information in the water tower
  2. ↑ Flyer of the city of Grimmen, city information: About the exhibition: Archaeological excavations at the water tower , September 28, 2002.

Web links

literature

  • Structural Funding Association Trebeltal eV: City information in the water tower , Grimmen

Coordinates: 54 ° 6 ′ 45.9 ″  N , 13 ° 2 ′ 53.5 ″  E