Essen-Steele water tower

Essen-Steeler water tower

The Essen-Steele water tower on Laurentiusweg 83 in the Steele district of Essen was built in 1898 at the highest geographical point in Steele and obtained its water from the Steeler waterworks on Westfalenstrasse directly on the Ruhr .

history

Due to the hard coal mining in the Ruhr area and especially in the Ruhr area, the groundwater level fell more and more in the 19th century, so that a water supply for people from wells and springs was no longer guaranteed. As a result, a water pipe was laid from private funds in 1865, which led the water from the sources of the tunnel of the United Deimelsberger Erbstolln colliery to the then independent town of Steele. The amount of water and the water pressure, however, were insufficient for an adequate supply of the population. In 1869, a fountain was dug across from this mine on the Ruhr, an underground high basin was built on the heights of Laurentiusberg and both were put into operation in 1871. Four years later, all households were connected to the associated pipe network and hydrants were set up for the fire brigade. Due to rapid industrialization and the increase in population caused by the immigration of workers, the capacity of the plant was exhausted in 1896.

So they built today's water tower at the geographically highest point of Steele near the underground high basin in order to achieve a certain water pressure. The town of Steele built a new pumping station with steam-driven pumping stations near the former Steele Süd station . From May 1, 1898, the water was pumped into the new water tower and from there not only distributed to the Steeler pipeline network, but the new capacity was sufficient to also supply the communities of Frillendorf , Schonnebeck and Stoppenberg .

A new regulation of the Essen water supply finally made the Steeler water tower superfluous, so that it was up for sale in 1984 and was acquired by the Kalenborn company.

Building

The three-storey round water tower is made of bricks , on which the visible water tank made of sheet steel with a volume of 1000 cubic meters rests. The tower shaft ends with a round arch frieze in the style of historicism , but the water tank, built according to the Intze principle , already shows a technical functionalism .

In 1986 the water tower was completely restored by Axel Kalenborn. For this purpose, the rusted inside container with a leaky roof was derusted by sandblasting and sealed with epoxy resin zinc dust primer, followed by another three layers of topcoat. On the outside, a two-component epoxy resin primer and a three-layer acrylic resin paint are used for corrosion protection . After opening all the joints, the old brick masonry was cleaned with hot steam under high pressure, gaps were closed with newly fired clinker. Finally, the masonry was sealed against dirt deposits. The water tank received today's window openings. When the work was completed in 1988, around 600 square meters of floor space for exhibitions or offices was created.

The tower stands since 14 May 1987 under monument protection . The water tower housed a gallery until 2006 and was then sold to private customers. The new owner has been running a software company in the tower since the end of 2006.

In June 2008 extensive corrosion protection measures were carried out on the tank and the steel reinforcement. In consultation with the monument authority, a two-component primer was painted over with a top layer in the original RAL color after the rust removal.