Alsfeld extinguishes!Die erste Feuerspritze wird in Betrieb genommen.

Fire protection was vital in a town like Alsfeld, which consisted mainly of wooden buildings. In 1350, presumably after a major fire, the Liederbach was diverted and led through the town. Now the extinguishing water could be brought more quickly to the scene of the fire with leather fire buckets. Long fire hooks were another important tool, used to tear down walls to stop the further spread of a fire.

In 1764, Amtmann Hallwachs ordered two fire engines for fire fighting from the “Feuer Spritzen Macher” Johann Philipp Bach from Solms-Hungen. The town council, which was asked to pay, refused to bear the costs, as did all 16 guilds. But the bailiff forced payment by deploying land hussars. In 1765 he also issued a fire protection order with 25 paragraphs, which also regulated the operation of the fire engine.

The 42 youngest citizens had to operate the pump as pushers. After the fire-fighting work, they were entitled to an “amusement with bread, eggs and brandy”.

The two fire engines were housed in the wedding house, fire ladders and hooks hung in the town hall, the leather buckets in the wine house.

After the construction of the water mains in 1896, hydrants were available everywhere in the town. The fire engine from 1765 could therefore go to the museum. CCRH