Kehl water tower
| Kehl water tower on the Rhine | |
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| Data | |
| Year of construction / construction time: | 1904 |
| Draft: | Max Hessemer |
| Construction: | Azone company (Kehl) |
| Tower height: | 47.5 m |
| Usable height: | 38.5 m |
| Container type: | Intze 1 (variation) |
| Container volume: | 300 m³ |
| Operating condition: | used to a limited extent |
| Original use: | Water supply from Kehl |
The water tower in Kehl is located in the south of the city at the junction of Schwimmbadstrasse and Iringheimer Strasse. The nearly 50-meter tower with its white shaft and the oblique lined container portion forms in the surrounding Rheinebene a highly visible landmark .
Building
The building erected in 1904 is a typical example of water tower architecture around 1900, although the tower head is no longer preserved in its original state.
The tower shaft has a circular plan with a diameter of 11.90 m at the base. It consists of brickwork throughout . The lower area is faced with sandstone , the upper area plastered and painted white.
The pump room is located in the area of the concrete foundation, above - separated by a beamed ceiling - the engine room. This is accessible via an outside staircase and a representative portal with an arched arch .
The polygonal tower head protruding in two steps, with its slate cladding, contrasts with the shaft. The lower, only slightly protruding step surrounds the drip tray, which is illuminated through a row of windows. Above that is the clearly protruding container area. It contains an Intze 1 type water tank that holds 300 m³ of water and is divided into two sub-tanks by a partition. A circumferential row of windows directly under the roof ensures the lighting in the container area. The simple tent roof ends with a copper ball and a weather vane depicting a griffin .
In the construction drawing you can see the original elaborate design of the tower head.
The representative entrance with a flight of stairs leads to the former engine room in the tower.
The extension from 1922 belongs to the former waterworks
History of the Kehl water supply
With the connection to the Baden railway network in 1844 and the construction of the Railway Rhine Bridge in 1861, the city of Kehl gradually developed into an industrial location. In 1897 a permanent road bridge followed over the Rhine and the construction of the Kehler Rheinhafen. The industrial boom and the associated population growth made a central water supply necessary.
In 1903 the city commissioned the engineer Max Hessemer from Frankfurt am Main to design a central water supply system with a filter well, pumping station, pipe network and water tower. The construction was carried out by the Kehler company Azone, and the plant went into operation in October 1905. The fountain was directly on the water tower, pumps and motors were housed in the tower.
Hessemer had the plant built at his own expense, but the city initially transferred the water supply monopoly to him , which subsequently led to excessive water prices and legal disputes between the city and the private entrepreneur. Ultimately, the city managed to buy the water supply from the Hessemer company for 285,000 marks.
The facilities were not damaged in the First World War . In 1922 an extension was made by adding a tower and another well. In the Second World War , both the pipe network and the water tower were damaged. The war damage to the tower was repaired in 1950, with the city replacing the elaborately designed tower head with a simpler construction. Another tower renovation took place in 2003.
Water supply today
Today, drinking water is supplied by the Kehl technical services. The waterworks at the tower was shut down in 1980 when the new Kehler waterworks on the Schutterwaldwiesen in the Willstätt district was completed. This and five other waterworks supply around 33,000 residents of the city and the incorporated surrounding areas today .
The water tower is still integrated into the pipeline network for the emergency supply.
literature
- Jens U. Schmidt, Günther Bosch, Albert Baur: Water towers in Baden-Württemberg. Land of the water towers. Regia-Verlag, Cottbus 2009, ISBN 978-3-86929-002-7 .
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 33 ′ 49 ″ N , 7 ° 48 ′ 53 ″ E