Page - 222 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

222 BettyArndt Fig. 9:Viewof Lübeck fromElias Diebel (1552), the two towersof the waterworksof the brewers (Brau- wasserkunst, left) andof themer- chants (Kaufleute- wasserkunst, right) atHüxterdamm. In the foreground woodenwater pipes arebeingdrilled. fromEinbeck, for instance, inHildesheim, inBraunschweig, in Lüneburg, in Stade, and inLü- beck, toname just thebest known. TheHüxtertorWasserkunstofLübeckon the riverWakenitz is shown inawoodcutbyElias Diebel of 1552 (Fig.9): it lifted the (previously held-back) water with a large wheel, and the water could then flow into the town through the wooden pipes with sufficient pressure. The imageshows twohigh tower-likebuildings: theWasserkunstof thebrewerson the left (Brauer- wasserkunstof 1294) andnext to it theWasserkunst of themerchants (Kaufleutewasserkunstof 1533), aswell asabucketwheel that isdrivenby thenatural flowof the river; in the foreground twomencanbe seendrilling thewoodenpipes. In Lübeck about 1302,more than 1800house- holdswere supplied by sixWasserkünste, a system that remained in use until 1867.40 Some of thewoodenpipes inLübeck leddirectly into thehouses,which is somethingwehavenot found inothernorthGerman towns. Publicwells, canals in the streets andwater pipe systems show, that from the 15th century at the latest, the water supply becamemore andmore a communal affair. From Einbeck we know that the neighbourhood had the common responsibility to maintain the wells and the systemofpipes.41 Sufficientwater supplywas alsonecessary for fire protection.42 Regulations for fire protec- tionwere important, as a fire could causemajor damage in a short time, as could be seen in Einbeck, where a town fire burnt down nearly the entire old town in only four hours, killing about400 inhabitants, in1540.43 InGöttingen, leatherbuckets forextinguishing fireswerekept in the town hall; furthermore, a subsidy was paid for people to change their (dangerous) thatchedroofs to tiledones.44Göttingen, fortunately, remaineduntroubledby larger fireevents. 40 Gläser 2004, 187–190;Grabowski 1994, 27–46. 41 Heege 2002, 125. 42 Brinkmann 1987, 292f. 43 Heege 2002, 52. 44 Ehrhardt 1997, 43.