Top 20 Natural Monuments in Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis

Further expenses arose from leveling the surrounding area and creating a "privy." The leveling work was carried out by "Schopp, Bausch and Associates." A total of 285 florins were spent during this fiscal year. The account book for the year 1857/58 lists under “Beautification of the Tafelsbrunnen”: “Stegmayer Matthias, carpenter, for the execution of the carpentry work on the vestibule of the Tafelsbrunnen 108 fl. Wüst Andreas, sheet metal worker, for sheet metal work on the drinking hall 123 fl. Lang Matthias, bricklayer, for brickwork 882 fl. Hollinger Wilhelm, bricklayer, for work on the vestibule 11 fl. Guttermann Jakob, metalworker, for fittings on the toilet door 1 fl. Wingerter Konrad, whitewasher, for oil painting of the toilet 1 fl. Weber Christian, carpenter, for a bench 5 fl. In total, 1135 guilders and 2 kreuzers were spent on the Tafelsbrunnen in this financial year. According to an invoice included in the files, the metalworker Friedrich Steinbauer received 12 fl. for the construction of “three pipes with supports.” The ravages of time have taken their toll. The artistic work was destroyed. However, it was replaced with a new one. During the last war, the drinking hall was demolished for scrap metal. Today, a wooden pavilion with seating stands there, once again inviting people to rest. Source: Contributions to Speyer's City History, Volume 1, Fritz Klotz, City History Miscellany

According to a meeting record from August 26, 1856, "part of the planned work" had already been completed, without it being possible to "determine who had actually ordered this work." Apparently, Heppenheimer had begun the work on his own initiative. At another meeting, Heppenheimer presented a plan with a cost estimate of 1,449 guilders. He suggested that the city could contribute 500 guilders and cover the remaining 249 guilders. The city council agreed and assigned him responsibility for the work. The government approved the cost estimate on January 15, 1857, and stipulated that "the work was to be carried out at the city's expense." It authorized the city to "accept the offer of city council member Heppenheimer to inject the sum of 700 guilders into the city treasury after the completion of this work," and "if the city council intended to name the Tafelbrunnen the Ludwigsbrunnen in the future, we look forward to another well-founded proposal from them." The city's accounting books provide some insight into the design of the fountain complex. In the 1856/57 accounting book, for example, the following is listed under "Extraordinary Expenses": "1. Heppenheimer Friedrich as director of the Tafelbrunnen work - 132 guilders (abbreviated to - fl in the following text).

The city councilors weren't averse to the idea, but first obtained an expert opinion from the well-known Speyer mathematician Schwerd. Schwerd informed the city council that, according to his measurements from 1822 – Schwerd began his measurements at the small Speyer base "on the dam that runs from the so-called Davidsbrunnen to the Rhine dam" – the pavement of the Altpörtel passage was 4.32 meters higher than the central spout of the Tafelsbrunnen (in 1820 Schwerd referred to it as the Davidsbrunnen!). Since, as is well known, water doesn't run uphill, and there was neither a waterworks nor a water tower at the time, this plan was abandoned. Heppenheimer then offered to "use this sum of 500 guilders to beautify the Tafelsbrunnen itself, if the city council approves naming it Ludwigs-Tafelsbrunnen." The city council unanimously approved this plan. To ensure that the spring and its surroundings lived up to their new name, Heppenheimer had a plan and cost estimate drawn up. In a further offer, he even promised 700 guilders if the city "implemented these plans as quickly as possible" and allowed him to participate in their implementation.

Anyone who makes the effort to visit the Tafelbrunnen (Table Fountain) will find the year 1857 carved above the three fountain pipes. How did this come about? The most popular tourist destination at that time was Berghausen, "because it boasts a garden in the English style, which is truly worth a visit in its charming, idyllic setting, and the inn leaves nothing to be desired" (August Becker: Pfalz und Pfälzer – 1857). The journey to the Mattern'sche Wirtschaft (later "Pfälzer Hof") – this is what August Becker was referring to – was long for many a noble Speyer family, and thirst was often great. So the Tafelbrunnen (Table Fountain) came to the rescue: for some, it offered clear, cool water, for others, it provided contemplative peace. At that time, a wealthy bachelor lived in Speyer, the city councilor and landowner Daniel Friedrich Heppenheimer (1798-1860). At a city council meeting in 1855, he proposed diverting the water from the Tafelbrunnen to Königsplatz and erecting a running fountain there in honor of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. The necessary funds could be raised through a subscription among the citizens. He himself offered to donate 500 guilders for this purpose. This was a considerable sum at the time.

The Tafelsbrunnen (Table Fountain) between Speyer and Berghausen was once a popular excursion destination for the people of Speyer. Much has changed over the years, however. However, one must gratefully acknowledge that the fountain itself is in good condition. A roof with seating provides a welcome place to rest. The distinguished Speyer field name researcher, high school professor Dr. Engelhardt, was able to prove that the Tafelsbrunnen was called the St. Afra Fountain in the Middle Ages – a chapel in honor of St. Ulrich and St. Afra once stood nearby (the field name "behind St. Ulrich" recalls this) – and was first mentioned in a document in 1295 (for more information, see Engelhardt: Historical Memories). A pious legend tells of the spring: St. Afra was the first person to call it a "Table Fountain." Servatius (Bishop of Tongeren between 348 and 384), "when he was tormented by burning thirst in the Speyer March, made the sign of the cross with his finger on the ground, whereupon a living spring bubbled from the ground, which never dried up from then on" (according to Joh. Geissel). The Speyer historian Wilhelm Eysengrein (1564), who first reported this legend (without, however, citing a source, as is his custom), did not specify a specific location, and so, since there had been no spring in the Speyer area in recent times other than the Tafelsbrunnen, St. Servatius was associated with him. The discovery of a Roman coin is noteworthy: "Found in 1894 near the Tafelsbrunnen." The coin bears the inscription: "Sabina Augusta Hadriani Augusti." It was thus minted in honor of Empress Sabina, Hadrian's wife (117-138). In a lecture Dr. Engelhardt gave in 1911 on Speyer's field names, he stated, among other things, about the Tafelsbrunnen (Table Fountain): "The naming after St. Afra served only to suppress the memory of the pagan goddess who sheltered the souls of small children here until the stork delivered them to the happy wife." Dr. Engelhardt apparently later abandoned this opinion. Be that as it may, the people of Speyer claim that the stork brings newborn children to the Tafelsbrunnen pond—it lies below the spring and is fed by it.

The straightening of the Rhine by the Baden engineer Tulla shortened the shipping route between Basel and Worms by 81 km and better protected the region from flooding. However, this shifted the flood risk downstream of the Rhine and affected biodiversity.

The straightening of the Rhine by the Baden engineer Tulla shortened the shipping route between Basel and Worms by 81 km and better protected the country from flooding. However, this shifted the risk of flooding downstream and affected biodiversity. Starting in 1817, the first six cuts were made north of Karlsruhe. First, a guide ditch was dug, from which the river then carried out its own washing of soil until the new riverbed was formed and could be reinforced. At times, up to 3,000 day laborers were working on it at the same time. The Upper Rhine correction was not completed until 1876, after almost sixty years of construction. The straightening separated the area of the Rheinschanze near Mechtersheim from the Palatinate side. As compensation, Mechtersheim received the island of Flotzgrün, which is enclosed by the Berghausen Altrhein.

These birds are absolutely worth seeing. In May/June they are particularly active and so are the birdwatchers. On weekends, space tickets are sometimes given out in the observation booth.😉