The history of the Pader
The history of the Pader as a symbol of the development of European river landscapes
The history of the Pader is a reflection of social processes and symbolises the development of European river landscapes. Today's urban river landscape of the Pader is the result of human intervention in nature and symbolises the overcoming of tensions in the cultural space. Driven by technical progress and growth, the demands on the urban river changed.
The intensive flow of the Pader springs enabled the medieval city economy to utilise the water power for various mills and pumping stations, so-called "Wasserkünste", just a few metres behind the spring basins. However, the abundance of water was not evenly distributed across the city. From 1630, Paderborn had three modern drinking water pumping stations ("Wasserkünste") - a spatial concentration in the city centre that was special by early European standards.
With the help of European engineering skills, rediscovered and further developed from antiquity, the water of the Pader could be brought into the households of the citizens and into the farm buildings of the monasteries - not least to brew Paderborn beer, which was popular throughout northern Europe. Scientific experience gained from experiments with pneumatic pressure and suction pumps, particularly at the Jesuit University of Paderborn, found its way via Rome to the European republic of scholars in the 17th century.
With industrialisation and the accompanying dense development, the natural space of the Pader was narrowed. Towards the end of the 19th century, wastewater clouded the once clear spring water. Europe-wide epidemics of cholera and typhus also infected Paderborn's urban water cycle. Only a technical innovation by Siemens & Halske was able to provide a remedy. Used for the first time in Paderborn in 1902, ozone (active oxygen) sterilised the drinking water extracted from the River Pader.
This process was considered an international sensation at a time when deadly epidemics were still rampant in numerous major European cities well into the 1930s. Delegations and enquiries from drinking water specialists from all over Europe (including Russia, France, Romania, Italy and Spain) found their way to the Pader to study the avant-garde ozonisation process and adopt it for their home cities.
More information
You can find even more information about the history of the Pader on paderpedia.de:
