At the Untere Mühlen, hydropower and World Heritage come together in a unique way: Deep beneath the rooms of the World Heritage Visitor Center, a 15-ton Kaplan turbine has been turning since 2018, supplying around 300 households in Bamberg with renewable energy. But the first use of hydropower at the Lower Mills dates back much further: there were already mills in this area at the time the diocese was founded under Emperor Henry II. In cooperation with the VHS Bamberg-Stadt, the Bamberg World Heritage Center is now dedicating a special guided tour to the topic of hydropower and World Heritage at the Lower Mills for the first time. The occasion for this tour is the “30 Years of Bamberg World Heritage” anniversary and the 4th anniversary of the World Heritage Visitor Center.
“World Heritage and renewable energy generation are often perceived as irreconcilable opposites,” says Diana Büttner, acting director of the Bamberg World Heritage Center. “With this tour, we want to show that both work very well together and even build on historical continuity.”
The combined tour will take place on Saturday, April 29, 2023—the 4th anniversary of the World Heritage Visitor Center—at 10:00 a.m. Those interested in historic mill structures and the technology behind modern turbines will be in for a treat during the first part of the tour, when Hans Götter, the technical supervisor of the Sterzermühle hydroelectric power plant, presents the process of generating green electricity. In addition to the water inlet to the turbine, the control and hydraulic systems will be explained, and visitors will be offered a unique look at the neighboring millwheel. The second part of the tour focuses on the World Heritage Visitor Center, which has served as a popular destination for visitors and Bamberg residents alike since 2019, providing information about Bamberg’s Old Town. Diana Büttner will guide visitors through the World Heritage exhibition and share interesting facts about its design and creation, the World Heritage site of Bamberg in general, and the Lower Mill District in particular. Here, those eager to learn can discover, among other things, the challenges that had to be overcome during the construction of the turbine and the story behind the so-called “bomb pole.”
The tour has limited accessibility; the technical room is not wheelchair-accessible. Tickets can be purchased for 9 euros by phone or online via the VHS Bamberg Stadt booking portal: https://www.vhs-bamberg.de/programm/vhs-plus.html?action%5B110%5D=course&courseId=502-C-8069236&rowIndex=0.
Caption: Inlet to the Kaplan turbine
Photo credit: Bamberg World Heritage Center
