The „new“ waterworks

Trade & Craft

Parallel to the baroque new construction of the „Fürstenweg“ (1751) and the Lippe Bridge (1752), earthworks probably also began for a new lifting system, which was built in the next few years at the confluence of the Pader and Kleine Lippe rivers. The solution once favoured by court architect Nagel of feeding the princely water features in the palace garden via a central water tower was probably discarded in the 1740s. As the capacity of the Old Waterworks was no longer sufficient, it was decided to build a new, powerful pumping station. Its four cast-iron piston tubes were to raise the large garden fountain to a height of over 20 metres a few years later.[1] Supervised by court architect Nagel and Privy Councillor von Weitz, who had been engaged from the neighbouring Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, the hydraulic engineering specialist and local „Brunnenmeister Reutel“ (well master Reutel) or „Rödel“, who also came from Kassel, erected the technically sophisticated pumping station.[2]

To increase the water power, a construction team first extended the course of the Unterpader at its confluence with the Kleine Lippe by more than 50 metres.[3] Enclosed on the river side by a dyke, a new artificial waterworks channel was created to the west of the stone bridge, which extended parallel to the Lippe.[4] The water level of this ditch could be regulated via a weir. The respective height of its gates („Schütten“) set at corners determined the water inflow both into the artificial canal and into the Kleine Lippe. If, for example, repair work had to be carried out on the moat brine, the bank reinforcement or the water wheel of the Neue Kunst, the Pader water could be diverted into the Lippe in the canal below the bridge. An expert opinion from the late 1780s puts the difference in water levels between the (dammed) Pader and the Kleine Lippe at 28 inches (approx. 70 cm).[5]

The builders raised the pump house on an almost square base area of an estimated 8 x 8 metres.[6] Its plinth was probably executed in stone. On Nagel’s garden plan (1736), an old greenhouse („Orangerie“) had previously stood here, and a new site was found near the stables to relocate it.[7] According to the preserved building invoice for 1753, the architect had both sandstone and brick used: Large quantities of sandstone worth 395 Reichstaler and „bricks and tiles“ for 521 Reichstaler were invoiced.[8] Master Valentin Sprenger was engaged for the stonemasonry work, who perhaps also invoiced the „finished sculpture work“ for around 285 Taler. Presumably for the roofing, „Borcher Platten“ (Borch slabs) were also purchased. The upper structure of the pump house, on the other hand, was probably made of half-timbering. The timber required for this was delivered to Neuhaus from all over the bishopric: Explicitly mentioned are transports from Schwaney, Buke, Driburg, Kleinenberg and Wünnenberg – all villages that were located in the densely wooded Egge mountains or on the northern edge of the Sauerland forest.[9]

The carpenters employed in the construction came from Kassel as well as from the immediate vicinity of Neuhaus.[10] Technically demanding metalwork was purchased directly in Kassel by Privy Councillor von Weitz and Brunnenmeister (well master) Reutel. This included above all custom-made brass products such as pipe fittings, water taps or casting moulds for lead pipes. The „copper Windt=body“ (copper threaded body) ordered for pressure equalisation in the piping system was also ordered for 400 thalers in neighbouring countries. Plumber Philip Hutten made eight „Waßer Brusen“ for the smaller fountains.[11] To seal the piston heads, a merchant named Engelhard supplied the necessary „Pumpenleder“ (pump leather).[12] In 1753 alone, the purchase of „manufactured Waßer Crahnen“ (water taps) cost the Court Chamber the proud sum of around 1,300 Reichstaler.[13] The annual costs for 1753 alone amounted to an impressive 18,507 Taler.[14]

All pressure pipes in the New Waterworks pipeline system were made of cast iron and lead. The downhill pipes, on the other hand, were made from local wooden logs, for which locksmith Joachim Ploscher forged a large drill in 1753.[15] The builders had more than one hundred metres of metal pipes, which were laid a good three feet (approx. 90 cm) deep in the ground, [16] cast in Kassel and at the iron smelting works in Altenbeken.[17] When, in the course of secularisation (1802/03), the former prince-bishop waterworks gradually fell into disrepair, the Prussian building inspector Ganzer suggested to the district government in 1808 that the Neuhaus water pipes, laid in a casing of „potter’s clay“[18], be dug up again for subsequent use in Paderborn.[19] He hoped that this would enable the cost-effective recovery of 400 feet (approx. 120 m) of iron pipes, which he intended to use to modernise Paderborn’s municipal waterworks. The building inspector estimated the total weight of the horse-drawn transports needed from Neuhaus to Paderborn to be at least 180 hundredweight (approx. 9 tons).

During its estimated 50-year existence (1753-1803), the Neue Wasserkunst was supervised and maintained by two electoral „water masters“. As was already customary in Paderborn, the Neuhaus masters also pursued their princely service as a sideline.[20] The water master Franz Georg Eberlein (*1728 +1811), who was appointed by the court chamber in 1760, was a small blacksmith/locksmith by trade and his colleague Johann Hermann Struch was a master carpenter.[21] This dual occupation made perfect sense because only craftsmen specialised in metal and woodwork were eligible for appointment as water master. Four Neuhaus water masters can be identified by name:

1753: Wilhelm Piever[22]

1758: Philip Kramer (+1760)[23]

1760/62: Franz Georg Eberlein (locksmith)

1760/62: Johann Hermann Struch (carpenter)

With secularisation, the New Waterworks became Prussian state property. The baroque pump house was probably demolished in the following years. The building is no longer marked on the original cadastral map of 1829/30.[24]

References and bibliography

[1] Cf. Börste/ Santel: Schloss Neuhaus, p. 75. Zu den technischen Details der Anlage vgl. die Baurechnung für das Jahr 1753. LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 2r-29.

[2] In May 1754, Prince-Bishop Clemens August responded positively to the inquiry of his court architect Nagel: for all future repairs and technical improvements („melioration“) to the New Waterworks, „waßer Meister Rödel“ (water master Rödel) was to be commissioned. The Paderborn Court Chamber was to bear the costs incurred by this alone. LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Nr. 3081, fol. 1r-1v.

[3] The large fountain in the gardens of Prince Bishop Clemens August was very probably not powered directly by the Old Waterworks „near the Paderborn Gate“. Vgl. Kandler/ Krieger/ Moser, Schloß Neuhaus, p. 48.

[4] Cf. Plan 2 „Ansicht des Schloßgartens zu Neuhaus von Philipp Sauer 1753 [um 1790]“, EAB Pb, AV, Akta 88, fol. 2r-3v.

[5] Cf. Expert opinion by Franz Anton Becker for Prince-Bishop Franz Egon v. Fürstenberg, o. d. (1789?): „1mo: […] with the great water=works the drop of the Pader into the Lippe should be 28 inches after the vertical line“. LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3044, fol. 33r-35v, here fol. 33r.

[6] Cf. „Grundriß des Gemüsegartens und der Wiesen im Schloßpark (18. Jhd.)“, EAB Pb, AV, Akta 88, fol. 14v-15r as well as „Grundriß der Wiese bei der Lippebrücke (18. Jh.)“, fol. 18r-19v.

[7] Cf. Börste/ Santel, Schloss Neuhaus, p. 77; Hansmann, Neuhäuser Schlossgarten, p. 132.

[8] Cf. LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 5r-6r.

[9] Cf. LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 4r ff.

[10] „Ahn Zimmer vnd Arbeitslohn behueff deren Caßellanern – 823 Rtl. […] behueff hiesiger Zimmerleuthen – 775 Rtl.“. LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 4r.

[11] LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 8v.

[12] LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 7r.

[13] LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 5v.

[14] LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 9r. The total construction costs for the New Waterworks amounted to an estimated 23,000 Reichstaler. Vgl. Wurm, Neuhaus, Sp 58.

[15] LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 8r.

[16] Cf. quotation by Ganzer, June 1808. StadtA Pb, A 888, fol. 29v-33v., here 33v.

[17] Baurechnung 1753: „[…] iron tubes transported from the Altenbecker Hütten hereto”. Cf. travel expenses of the electoral court blacksmith „Meister Johann“, who in June 1758 had the „large spigot […] forged to the great works“ at the hammer in Altenbeken. LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 3v; 17r.

[18] Cf. Baurechnung 1753: „Auswerffung des erforderlichen Pott-Leimens – 104 Rtl.“ LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 4r.

[19] Cf. quotation by Ganzer, June 1808. StadtA Pb, A 888, fol. 29v-33v.

[20] Cf. Ströhmer, Michael: Die Paderborner Wasserkünste als technische Denkmale des europäischen Kulturerbes ECHY 2018, in: WZ 169 (2019), p. 295-317.

[21] Cf. Kanne, Familien in Neuhaus, p. 93; 109. In 1805, water master Eberlein lived with his second wife Gertrud Hille in a small half-timbered house in today’s „Sertürner Straße 26“.

[22] LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 8r.

[23] LA Münster, Fürstbistum Pb, Hofkammer Nr. 3054, fol. 26r. In October 1759, the Neuhaus „Wassermeister Cramer“ (water master Cramer) is to supervise the renovation work on the „Wasserleytung von Lippspringe bis an die Neuhäus. Fish Dikes“ (Water pipeline from Lippspringe to the Neuhaus fish dikes). Quoted from Pavlicic, Eine altertümliche Wasserzuleitung, p. 26.

[24] Cf. Flur V, Parz. 240 und 237.

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