Picture this. You stand before the long-vanished Wasserhaus in Dresden. It’s a ghost of a building. Yet its story flows like the water it once channeled.
The Hochplauensche Wasserhaus wasn’t just any building. It was Dresden’s lifeline for centuries. It stood in Plauen near Dresden. It collected water from the Mühlgraben canal of the Bienertmühle mill. This water was then purified. It flowed through wooden pipes a system known as Rohrwasser. This vital water supply sustained the city.
Before the Wasserhaus’s construction in 1542, the first water was piped to a Franciscan convent in the 15th century. Imagine those humble beginnings. Then came Herzog Moritz von Sachsen. He commissioned the renowned Festungsbaumeister Caspar Vogt von Wierandt. Together they built a wooden pipe system. This impressive feat of engineering brought water from Plauen all the way to Dresden’s Altmarkt. It was the Hochplauensche Wasserleitung. By 1589 there were 22 of these pipelines supplying the city.
One special pipeline deserves mention. The eiserne Zwingerröhre an iron pressure pipe. Friedrich August I ordered its construction in 1720. It was a branch of the Hochplauensche Rohrfahrt. It supplied water to the Zwinger’s stunning fountains. Picture the cascading water. Imagine the elegance of the court. It all depended on this water.
The Wasserhaus itself underwent numerous changes and renovations. The last major reconstruction was in 1862. Three water intakes were added. They included advanced shut-off and filtering technology for the time. The Wasserhaus remained in use well into the 20th century. Sadly it fell into disrepair in the 1980s. It was ultimately demolished.
However the Wasserhaus’s legacy endures. The WIMAD e V Dresden conducted research. They rediscovered the remaining foundations. A poignant reminder of this essential building. This forgotten piece of Dresden’s history. A testament to human ingenuity and the city’s enduring thirst for progress. The Wasserhaus may be gone but its story continues to flow. A silent tribute to the vital role it played in Dresden’s past.