It presents historical values and is an important element of the landscape of Trzemeszno.  

History of the structure

The water tower in Trzemeszno is one of the most important elements of the municipal water supply system completed in the years 1904-08. The decision to invest was made by the Trzemeszno city council. The first water supply line, more than six kilometres long, was started in 1904. In August 1905, the design for the tower and pumping station was drawn up by H. Scheven from Düsseldorf, who was the contractor for many water towers, sewer systems and waterworks. Construction began in 1906 with reinforced concrete foundations and subsequent floors. A Barkhausen steel water tank with a capacity of 150 m3 was installed in the tower. The tower was put into operation in 1908, it underwent a thorough renovation in 1994. For the work, the company “Kominbud” received the award “Construction of the Year” awarded by the Ministry of Construction. The building still serves its original function.

Description of the structure

The water tower is located in the southwestern part of the city on Orchowska Street. It has retained the plan, shape, construction, and materials from the time of its construction. The 40 meter high tower consists of a massive conical shaft, narrowing upwards, and a cylindrical reinforced concrete head covered with a spire dome. The tower, built of reinforced concrete and faced with solid brick, is distinguished by brick details that have been partially plastered over. The dome with four dormers, topped with a glazed lantern, was covered with copper sheeting. The conical shaft of the tower was erected in the part of the plinth and the ground floor on an octagonal plan, turning into a circle upwards. In the overhanging head, much larger than the shaft, there is a steel tank of the Barkhausen system. The architecture of the tower with rich decorations characteristic of the industrial architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The front elevation of the tower’s shaft is accented with an entrance separated in the body with a decorative portal and a balcony at the level of the second storey. The portal is crowned with a sharp arch with a prominent cornice and a frame in the form of pilasters, decorated with stucco work in the form of floral motifs with the town’s coat of arms in the centre. The balcony above the entrance is based on stone supports with a cornice and a parapet with spheres and is finished with an openwork brick balustrade. The balustrade detail is continued in a wide surround passing to the wall in the form of an arcade frieze. The rusticated walls at the level of the base and ground floor are divided by a wide profiled cornice. The rustication is separated from the first storey by a cubical cornice in the form of eaves covered with tiles. On the ground floor there are four recesses closed with a segmental arch with two rectangular windows. The next storeys are separated by windows in profiled surrounds and cornices. The windows on the second floor repeat the arrangement of window openings from the ground floor and the pedestal. In the sub-tank section the visible strips go higher to the head in the form of pilasters, between which there are double window openings in profiled surrounds. The interior of the tower has preserved its original layout. In the ground floor there is a wooden one-way staircase, which leads to the fourth floor. Then, there are steel ladders to the working platforms at the tank, and a ladder to the lantern located in the dome of the tower, which goes through the tank.

Visitor access. The water tower in Trzemeszno can be viewed from the outside.

Author of the note: Radomiła Banach, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 23.11.2017

Bibliography

• Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction Water tower in Trzemeszno, K. Bartkowski, 1993.