6
Waterworks at Vogeltor
The third waterworks was built in 1538 on the city wall next to the Vogeltor. Its main purpose was to supply drinking water to the Lech district. In the 1700´s a fortified tower was repurposed into a water tower, making the works larger and more efficient.
Building history and description
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plant with water tower at medieval fortification near the bird gate
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Augsburg, city center, Lechviertel; between Oberer Gang, Am Vogeltor and Oberer Graben
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predecessor tower built in 1538
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New construction of the second tower 1776, in operation until 1879
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medieval gothic tower with square layout
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Facade articulated by high-profile arched windows
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Spire in the form of a so-called tent roof, plain tile
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Outer Stadtgraben (city moat) flows past the bird's gate under the defensive wall, becoming the inner Stadtgraben (city moat)
Use and purpose
- waterworks served the better drinking water supply of the Lech neighbourhood
- waterworks in cultivation on city wall (= first tower of 1538)
- In 1774, Caspar Walter proposed the conversion of a nearby defense tower (higher and therefore more efficient), created instructions and model, executed only by successor Jacob Dempfle
- 1843 Moving of the pump house directly in front of the bird tower to the city wall
- Use of a wooden water wheel to replace the old pump house
- new pump house abandoned in 1879 and demolished (visible today by a bright spot on the wall)
- Waterworks at Vogeltor as extension of the drinking water supply system of the city of Augsburg
- more efficient supply of the Lech district, humanitarian or social component, testify to the separation of drinking and service water and the raising of spring water by the motive water
- Association of the three historic waterworks in Augsburg's Old Town
- Drinking water works at the high drain as a modern successor
Authenticity and unique features
- Wooden pump house demolished on city wall in the 1930s, outlines still recognizable
- Water tower outwardly unchanged
- demonstrates in a unique and comprehensible way the continuous development of the urban water supply - temporally (baroque) as well as spatially (Lech district)
