Hydrantology for Beginners

All photos © Martina Jackmuthwww.blackandwhiteandcolours.de

Never stand between a dog and the hydrant.John Peers ­ 1001 Logical Laws

Cover: Streetart in Weissenburg,France, 2010

Merriam­Webster at www.merriam­webster.comsays: "a discharge pipe with a valve andspout at which water may be drawn from awater main (as for fighting fires) —calledalso fireplug"

The Online Etymology Dictionary atwww.etymonline.com says: "1806, a hybridcoined in Amer.Eng. from Gk. hydr­, stemof hydor "water" (see water (n.1)) +­ant."

Wikipedia says at en.wikipedia.org: "Theinvention of a post­ or pillar­type firehydrant is generally credited to FrederickGraff Sr., Chief Engineer of thePhiladelphia Water Works around the year1801."

Hydrants might also be used as artinstallations.

Hydrant manufactured by Erhard GmbH &Co.KG, Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany.Beer is a "Wulle Bier" ­ brewed byDinkelacker­Schwaben Bräu, Stuttgart,Germany ­ never heard of it before,though. Rest area, German Autobahn, 2012.

Hydrants cast wonderful shadows in low winter light. They rust in beautiful colours. Manufacturer isunknown. DIN is Deutsche Industrienorm (since 1917) and DRP ist Deutsches Reichspatentamt (until 1945,then Deutsches Patent­ und Markenamt). The German national organization for standardization and the Germannational patent office. Steelworks, Völklingen, Germany, 2009.

The modern German hydrantis clear in its lines,without superfluousembellishment. Timelesselegance as themanufacturer describes it.The pillar still is madeout of cast iron, whilethe protective mantle isout of stainless steel. Ifear these hydrants neverrust. Often the hydrant isguarded by two or morered­white poles. Four ofall German hydrantmanufactures hold 70% ofthe market share, btw.

This type of hydrant is manufactured bySchmieding Armaturen GmbH, Holzwickede,Germany. All newly installed hydrantsin Mainz have this almost futuristicdesign. Mainz, Germany, 2012.

Of course, the aforementioned timeless elegance doesn't work well with old medieval towns. Therefore mostof the manufacturers also offer a "Nostalgia" line ­ the "Altstadthydrant", "old town hydrant". And yes,hydrant is the same in German. This one is made by VAG­Armaturen GmbH, Mannheim, Germany, designed afterthe "Modell Reuther" from 1885. Dinkelsbühl, Germany, 2012

Another fine specimen of a German hydrant. It's installed at the Kloster Eberbach, a former Cistercianmonastery. In the winter of 1985/86 the interior scenes of the film "The Name of the Rose" were filmedhere. Hydrant's manufacturer is AVK Mittelmann Armaturen GmbH, Wülfrath, Germany and I took the photo atEberbach Abbey, Germany, 2012. BUT ... most of the German hydrants are located below ground ...

On the left you can see the typical German hydrant: below ground or underfloor as wecall it. The first one is closed. Of course. The manhole cover is always labeled"Hydrant" to distinguish it from all the other manhole covers you might find in ourstreets and sidewalks. Germany is small so things tend to get crammed. Again theEberbach Abbey, Germany, 2012.

An underfloor hydrant in action. Not only the firefighters use them but anyone whogets the permission. In fact this one provided water for a toilet trailer at thefamous carnival in Mainz. As I think about it the red above ground hydrants might beonly accessible to the firefighters. Not sure about that, though. Firefighters usethe underfloor hydrants as well. Mainz, Germany, 2012.

A naked underfloor hydrant. Mainz, Germany, 2009.

Its clothes. Mainz, Germany, 2009.

And some hydrants are simply beautiful. Hunsrück, Germany, 2011.