Mannheim Water Tower

Since Mannheim lies on the Rhine Valley, the groundwater is not very deep under the earth's surface and is therefore often of poor quality. Consequently, during the reign of Elector Charles Louis (1680), the merchant Helferich Geil suggested channeling "mountain water from Rohrbach" (now a district of Heidelberg) to Mannheim. Until the 19th century, the electoral court's water requirements were met by The Upper and Lower Prince Fountains at the Heidelberg Castle. In 1798, Johann Andreas of Traitteur, the Electoral Palatinate architect, wrote about these water transports:<blockquote>"Because of the lack of healthy, acceptable well water, as long as the court was in Mannheim, such necessary…

, 1897]] On July 1, 1886, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of waterworks took place. 1.975 million marks was approved as a loan for the project. However, the costs rose to 2,374,288 marks in the course of the three-year construction phase. The construction of the actual water tower was what caused such an increase in the costs in building the waterworks. The building contractor Joseph Hoffman & Söhne in Ludwigshafen on the river Rhine, which also had a branch in Mannheim, was in charge of the construction work. They had to deposit a bail in the amount of 20,000 marks for this. However, the contractor apparently overlooked extending their bail, and they were immediately…