Author: Jens U. Schmidt, Günther Bosch and Albert Baur

Elevated water tanks, as important structures in a modern water supply system, not only balance fluctuations in demand but also ensure a defined and largely constant water pressure at the taps in the supply area. Where the topography of the terrain precludes the construction of a water tank at a high elevation, water towers take over this function.

When people hear about water towers, they often think of industrial buildings, mostly unused today, that water utilities built around 1900. However, this is not the case in Baden-Württemberg. Two-thirds of the nearly 400 water towers are still in operation. More than half were built after the Second World War.

The reason for this is the unique and, in many parts of the country, challenging water supply situation. Water-poor upland areas contrast with water-rich regions along the Rhine, Danube, and Lake Constance. As a result, communities joined together to form water supply groups and built long-distance water pipelines. Even today, water towers remain the best way to store water coming from far away and then deliver it to consumers at the necessary pressure.

Nowhere else do we find historic water features and fountain houses, magnificent water towers from the Wilhelminian and Art Nouveau periods, as well as completely modern buildings of unusual shapes and designs. Especially with the historic water towers, it’s worth retelling their history and reflecting contemporary praise for this technical achievement.

Naturally, the book is dedicated to Mannheim’s landmark, the neo-baroque water tower on Friedrichsplatz. It also describes what it’s like to live in a water tower and how the buildings can be repurposed for museum purposes. We find offices in water towers, including a spectacular project for a zero-energy high-rise. There are also some sad examples of demolished water towers, which the book evokes.

Water towers were needed not only for municipal water supplies, but also for railways and industry. The numerous towers of the former Baden Main Line and the Royal Württemberg State Railway supplied steam locomotives. With them, most of the water towers disappeared. The few remaining ones are worth a closer look.

Industry often consumed far more water than the public water supply could supply around 1900. So, they built their own wells, pumps, and elevated water tanks. The lightning architect Philipp Jakob Manz demonstrated how elegant such an industrial building could look by constructing numerous factories with water towers or tank attachments. We find these towers in the textile industry as well as in metalworking plants and the chemical industry. Slaughterhouses and other food processing plants also have water towers. The most unusual and beautiful of these is certainly the Art Nouveau tower of the Maggi factory.

The book series “Water Towers in Germany” has so far published documentation from the following federal states and regions: Bavaria, Bremen and Hamburg, Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, Northwestern Germany, and Schleswig-Holstein. Documentation for Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland is in preparation. Further details can be found on the website of the German Water Tower Archive.