Waterworks at the Red Gate
The waterworks at the Red Gate is the oldest existing waterworks in Germany and probably also in Central Europe. It served the drinking water supply of Augsburg for over 460 years, from 1416 to 1879 . Today the ensemble of water towers and fountain master houses is a monument in Augsburg .
history
Augsburg was built on a high terrace to protect against flooding on the Lech and Wertach . To obtain drinking water, cisterns and deep wells were first built. When the drinking water supply became too scarce with the increasing population, the patrician Leutpold Karg had the first water tower built in 1412. The technical knowledge for this water art probably came from Italy to Central Europe through trade connections.
Soon several water towers were built in various parts of the city in Augsburg to supply them with drinking water. The waterworks at the Red Gate was the largest and most important of these facilities. It stands in the south of the old town between the Red Gate , the city wall at the Red Gate Wall and the Heilig-Geist-Spital . It includes three historical water towers , namely the large water tower, the small water tower and the box tower , as well as the upper and lower fountain master house .
Via the aqueduct at the Red Gate , which bridged the city moat to the Red Gate, two canals were led into the city side by side, the Brunnenbach , the drinking water, and the Lochbach , which carried river water from the Lech into the city. In the center of the facility is the work yard, into which the Brunnenbach was directed. This supplied both the drinking water and the energetic drive for the waterworks. The Lochbach was routed around the waterworks and is called Vorderer Lech from here on .
The waterworks was continuously maintained and technically expanded in the following centuries. The basic technical principle remained the same: the water flowing in canals drove water wheels that carried the water with reciprocating pumps into water towers. Due to their height, the water towers generated the necessary water pressure to pump the drinking water into the city's fountains, even the magnificent Augsburg fountains on the elevated terrace , and later also into all connected households. At that time, however, they did not allow storage because the construction of sufficiently large storage basins was not yet possible.
An attraction with a role model
The waterworks at the Red Gate was one of the main tourist attractions in Augsburg. Numerous European dignitaries and scholars visited and described the facility. After a visit in 1571, Cardinal Luigi d'Aragona described it as “a large but expensive technical work”. The French philosopher and politician Michel Eyquem de Montaigne underlined the importance of “this wonderfully sensible facility” for the city by stating that “thanks to this system alone, it is blessed with abundant public fountains. If a citizen wants a private connection, it will be approved for an ongoing fee of ten or a one-off payment of 200 guilders. "
Caspar Walter , the most important well master in Augsburg, who had a decisive influence on the waterworks at the Red Gate, wrote 16 papers on mechanical engineering and statics in the field of water supply. This includes the manual-like book Hydraulica Augustana . The knowledge of the art of water lifting, as it was practiced in the waterworks at the Red Gate, was used by Augsburg pumping station designers in many cities, especially in the 16th century, for example in Stuttgart, Kaiserslautern, Heilbronn, Marburg, Munich, Brussels and Vienna.
Decommissioning and current state
In 1879, the newly built waterworks at Hochablass replaced all of the existing Augsburg waterworks, including the waterworks at the Red Gate. This new plant used pressure air vessels instead of water towers and was able to provide better quality water.
The water towers and fountain master houses remained, although they no longer had a function, as buildings; also the aqueduct and the canals as such. However, only the drawings, descriptions and models of the waterworks technology have survived. After temporary decay, the buildings are now renovated. Based on a concept by Anita Kuisle from 2010 on behalf of the City of Augsburg, the Werkstatt für Gestaltung Augsburg realized a presentation on the significance of the towers in terms of water history and the functionality of their earlier fittings. The buildings can be viewed on request from Regio Augsburg Tourismus GmbH. The Brunnenmeisterhof is accessible free of charge during the opening hours of the Swabian Crafts Museum, as is this.
Both waterworks are monuments of the historic Augsburg water management , which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 6, 2019 .
Models of water pipes
Models of the pumping stations
In the small water tower
The ensemble
Water towers
The waterworks at the Red Gate include three historic water towers that have been preserved as structures to this day:
- the great water tower
- the small water tower
- the box or hospital tower
The upper and lower Brunnenmeisterhaus
The upper fountain master's house served as the residence of the fountain master with direct access to the large and small water tower. It is a mansard roof building from the 17th century. The Vordere Lech flows directly past its west facade. The name “House to the Fishes” owes the building to two bronze dolphins, which are attached to the left and right of the entrance door. The stairwell of the small water tower and the former official residence of the well master are located in the Upper Fountain Master's House. Today a permanent exhibition on Augsburg's historical water supply can be seen in the building.
The lower fountain master's house , which ran along the city wall, contained the workshops of the fountain master. The building was renovated from 1983 to 1985. The Swabian Crafts Museum has been based here ever since .
The Brunnenmeisterhof
The Brunnenmeisterhof (also called Handwerkerhof) is a quiet, closed and recessed courtyard that is only accessible through the inner courtyard of the Heilig-Geist-Spital . It offers access to the lower fountain master house, the box tower and the east side of the large and small water tower. Canals used to flow openly through this courtyard. From these you can still see the walled-up openings in the city wall. Today only one canal, the Brunnenmeisterbach , runs underground under the courtyard; it reappears outside the city wall at the Augsburg herb garden . In the past there were also buildings for the water wheel-driven reciprocating pumps in the middle of today's courtyard; traces of these can still be seen.
literature
- Martin Kluger: Augsburg's historical water management. The way to the UNESCO World Heritage. 1st edition. context Verlag, Augsburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-939645-81-8 .
- 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 .
- Martin Kluger: Hydraulic engineering and hydropower, drinking water and fountain art in Augsburg. 1st edition. context Verlag, Augsburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-939645-72-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Martin Kluger: Hydraulic engineering and hydropower, drinking water and fountain art in Augsburg. 1st edition. Context Verlag, Augsburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-939645-72-6 , p. 2 .
- ^ Albrecht Hoffmann: On the status of the urban water supply in Central Europe before the Thirty Years War. In: The water supply in the Renaissance period. Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2700-5 , p. 130.
- ↑ Michel de Montaigne: Diary of a trip to Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-86539-053-6 , p. 103 f.
- ↑ WATER TOWERS AT THE RED GATE
- ^ Hydraulic Engineering and Hydropower, Drinking Water and Decorative Fountains in Augsburg. In: whc.unesco.org. UNESCO World Heritage Center, accessed May 22, 2018 .
Coordinates: 48 ° 21 ′ 36.1 ″ N , 10 ° 54 ′ 14 ″ E