Wusterhausen bear
The Wusterhausen Bear or Wusterhausischer Baer is a small tower in the Köllnischer Park at the Märkisches Museum in the Mitte district of Berlin . It represents the last remaining part of the Berlin defenses , which the Great Elector had built between 1662 and 1683 after the Thirty Years' War .
The bears
Part of the defense was formed by two moats that surrounded the city outside the fortress wall . These branched off from the Spree in the area of today's Jannowitzbrücke and reunited with it at the level of the Bode Museum . Two weirs were built into each trench to regulate the water level, one at the beginning and one at the end of the trench. These weirs were then called Baere , derived from the Latin word berum = weir . Three of these Baere were built as massive weirs, only in the area of the Königsgraben at the Spandauer Brücke was content with a simple lock so as not to hinder shipping .
The weirs were solidly walled and between 2.50 and 7.50 meters thick. Narrow passages were left for pulling up and lowering the defending shooters. In order not to use the weir as a bridge, the top of the weir was beveled on both sides. These inclines were reminiscent of the back of a donkey, which is why the name donkey back was popularly established for the defensive edge. A round tower was also placed in the middle of the weir, which should also make it impossible to cross the edge. The tower was so wide that a person could not grasp it and so high that it was impossible to climb over. At the same time, it could not be so big that if it were destroyed the trench would be filled with rubble. One of these towers was the Wusterhausen Bear.
Another story
The Berlin fortress was never attacked and was destroyed, with the exception of a few remains, by the time it was occupied by the Austrians and Russians in 1757 and 1760. Due to the rapid growth in the population of the city of Berlin, most of the city's population was already settling outside the former protective walls.
The weirs were still used to regulate the water level, but above all for the water mills , which were used to drive various businesses. With the exception of the upper bear, all weirs have been torn down over the years. The lower bear of the royal moat had to give way to a silk factory , the lower bear of the southern canal (also known as the Green Canal ) was used by a white tanner mill and was also demolished after extensive renovations in this area. The mill was relocated to the Oberbär, which was given the name Wusterhausen Bear due to its location on the arterial road to Königs Wusterhausen .
The bear became damaged over time. King Friedrich Wilhelm I then had it renewed in 1718 and crowned with a small statue made of sandstone and provided with a plaque:
- Wvsterhavsian bear 1718
In 1736 he gave the land at the Grünen Graben to Count Truchsess zu Waldburg to build a garden. His heirs sold the garden to the Prussian court banker and major entrepreneur David Splitgerber , who also received the site of Bastion VII , today's Köllnischen Park, as a gift from King Friedrich II . Later, the total area went to the lodge of the Freemasons " The Three globes ".
The Grünes Graben was narrowed and filled in more and more until the weir was completely filled and the Wusterhausen bear stood on solid ground on a plot of land on Neue Jakobstrasse. The last parts of the Green Trench were filled in in 1883/1884 and the buildings torn down. At the instigation of monument friends, the tower was moved to the Köllnischer Park in 1893, where it still stands today, equipped with an extended plaque:
- Wvsterhavsischer Baer 1718
avf the middle of the weir
in the green ditch behind
bastion vi erbavt
and moved here in 1893
literature
- Frank Eberhardt: Wusterhausen Bear . In: Berlin monthly journal . Issue February 2, 1995. Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein , Berlin 1995, pp. 66-69, ISSN 0944-5560 .
Web links
References and comments
- ↑ 1662-1683: Defense system and weir , in the Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung , No. 52, December 29, 1883, pp. 481 and 482, accessed on December 22, 2012
- ↑ a b c d e f g Frank Eberhardt: Wusterhausen Bear . In: Berlin monthly journal . Issue February 2, 1995. Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein , Berlin 1995, pp. 66-69, ISSN 0944-5560 .
- ↑ Today the street name “Am Zwirngraben” on Hackescher Markt still reminds of it.
Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 46 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 55 ″ E