Passage through the tunnel

A group of visitors published the following in its Club magazine: “ One can enter Trippstadt’s Castle and its gardens freely, but it is necessary to form a group to be able to visit the water supply tunnel. This is correct. 

                Castle Entrance                                                Castle Gardens

Small groups of 5 – 10 persons can take part in a guided tour. Meeting point is the Brunnenstollen hut on Judenhübel, via Friedhofstr. The guide will first inform you about the construction of this historical system.

 Then he will hand out suitable clothing (waders – min. Height 1.5m). Getting into these is amusing and adventurous. Waterproof jackets are also provided to protect your own clothing. Group photos can be taken when everyone has completed his outfit with a safety helmut. The group then proceeds to the tunnel entrance in Quellbachtal. At the end of the U-shaped dry wall  we come to a 0.6m wide and 1.5m high opening and descend the four steps. The entrance to the tunnel is 2.5m below ground level and is secured by a wrought-iron gate made by Heinz Denig in1982.  

           Photo: The Groups in front of the Brunnenstollen  hut   

Mr. Ernst Dickerhof  from Mainz, hobby stone-mason, chiseled Trippstadt’s coat- of- arms 

into the stone above the gate.

After opening the entrance gate we must duck down to enter the tunnel and turn              Photo-Down: Mr. schacher, Geol. Institute Heidelberg/Ger.-  Entrance gate r. Exit l. 

 on our lamps. The passage straight ahead of us is the first water outflow point and is 29.8m long. We turn right into the main collector, one behind the other and the last person closes the gate. We can admire the dry-wall construction and arched roof. An arch truss was set upon the walls and the conical sandstones placed one next to the other building 

up gradually to complete the arched roof – a wonderful construction. The dry-wall cracks (L.) were filled with earth. 

Following the course of the water we suddenly discover a ledge on the right-hand wall. This is the exact point where the 2^nd water flow connects with

 the main collector from the left-hand side. It is 46.25m long and there are two air shafts ( R.) through which you can see daylight.

Such ledges in a wall occur when several groups work simultaneously. We can assume, therefore, that one group began with the wall in the first section and a further group in the 2^nd. The main collector is supplied plentifully in wet weather by water from the 2^nd. source.

We continue on our way through the main tunnel which bears to the right. Suddenly we can stand up straight again at this point. We are now 29m below the Quellbach area and still have dry-wall construction around us.(3.5 – 4.0m earth).

We discover another air=shaft here, also in dry-wall construction. These air-shafts were also certainly maintained for water treatment purposes. The oxygen entering through the shafts made the water drinkable. The air-shafts and the circulation of the air kept the temperature in the tunnel at a constant level and so the water remained drinkable.

After  further 35m we come to the end of the dry-wall arched way. We now see

 rock strata ( L. ), some coves in the stone ( R. ) wall, the floor is even and the back wall curved. We light the candles standing in the wall coves and it becomes bright. This tunnel

 section has 7 “light” niches.  7 of these are situated in the Quellbachtal side and 3 on the Judenhuebel. The niches are of various shapes and sizes and are not regularly spaced apart. The niches themselves were perfectly chiseled into the stone, so that we can say without doubt that this was the work of stone-masons. In the Quellbach part 3 niches were hacked at the entrance of the rock strata  area, in the Judenhuebel part 2 wide niches.It is possible that these were made for the workers at the time of construction so that they could readjust their eyes to daylight.  

We carry on further 5 m. and descend more steeply. We are now 72m from the

entrance in Quellbachtal. The standing room gets lower and lower  (1.55m – normally 1.8m) and the water rises on our boots.

The tunnel bears once to the right and then curves left etc. Suddenly we notice that the water is over our knees(30 – 60cm). We are now at the 98m. mark and soon you’ll hear," Watch the step!” Photo-L&R: Mr. schacher, Geol. Institut Heidelberg/Ger.

At 155m. we leave the Quellbachtal side and we enter the Judenhübel side (ducking our heads). We feel more comfortable here where the tunnel is 2.5m high and 60-70 cm. wide.

We can also see daylight at the end of the Judenhuebel tunnel. However, we first observe the 4^th measure at 160m. which connected the two tunnels.

Continuing on our way it appears that we go straight ahead, but then we notice the light variations to the left and right. The water is now only 10cm. deep.

At 188m. we find ourselves 11m below the hut where we met. We walk 6m. on this south side and come across an inscription in the stone wall 2m. above the ground, just below the roof, which reads:”BALTZER – STRASSBURGER 1767”. The letters are 7 cm.tall, the whole inscription inscription measures 24cm. in height. The lines are 

varied in length, the longest being 49 cm. Identical letters can be found on the walls of the Evangelical Church, in the distribution chamber at 77 Hauptstrasse

 and at Trippstadt’s castle. The castle, church and distribution chamber were thus built by the same skilled persons and stonemasons.

Some of our group members are now getting nervous – they longEntrance in 1978 in Quellbachtal      to get back 

out into the daylight. At 235 m we come to dry-wall and 

arched roof construction again. We leave the rock strata of Judenhuebel. The water rises once more to 30 – 40 cm. The tunnel turns sharp right and we can see the exit.

On the south side there are 3 settling basins, consisting of two or three chambers. Clear water was able to flow through wooden shafts and iron pipes in to the village and to the castle. The settling basin is separated by enormous, expertly made square sandstones – 1 – 1.3m. long, 0.2m. deep and 0.8 – 1m wide. The tunnel section in which the settling basin is situated measures 4.5 m./2.65/1.3m. and has a volume  of 5 cbm.  

A 1m. square sandstone separates the main tunnel from the settling basin, creating a 20m. long pre-collecting area. We stand in deep water here. Now we slide carefully over the separating wall into the next chamber where the water reaches to our chests! This procedure repeats itself once more and

 we step back into the world! From the entrance to the outflow exit of this historical system we cover 285.85  

introduction / reviev / first water supply / tunnel / passage / details / main page Eng. / index

                                                    Photo-L&D: Mr. schacher, Geol. Institute Heidelberg/Ger. 

                                                      middle b&w Rainer Dietrich Kaiserslautern