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Aquarius Water Museum

Around 800 years ago the aristocratic estate of Styrum was known as "Steirhem" – the place were bulls (German: Stiere) were sold. Here the broad meadows around the River Ruhr and it estuaries provided a habitat for plants and animals. At the centre of the woods and fields was a large castle-like mansion, the home of the Dukes of Limburg-Styrum.

The Mülheim lock was situated only a few kilometres upriver and this provided a link to the waterways transport up the Ruhr. An ever-increasing number of steamboats laden with coal passed by the mansion and the town of Mülheim experienced a breathtaking rise as a coal trading centre. But after 1860 coal transport along the Ruhr declined rapidly due to the competition from the railways which gave a further massive boost to the coal and steel industries. The suburb of Styrum also felt the effects of this development. The young entrepreneur, August Thyssen, was quickly aware of the advantages of the small location because it had a railway station and very little industry. In 1871 Thyssen bought up a piece of land not far from the mansion, and in the very same year "Thyssen und Compagnie, Styrum" began production in a rolling mill.

It was not long, however, before it was clear that the Mülheim waterworks was unable to meet the needs of the Thyssen rolling-mill site. So in 1893 August Thyssen reacted by constructing two large wells from which water could be drawn with the help of steam power and a reciprocating pump. Shortly afterwards he built the present-day water tower which was to supply both his industrial site and the parish of Styrum with water.

As early as 1897 Mülheim was supplying water to the Graf Moltke colliery in Gladbeck and the Deutscher Kaiser works near Duisburg. The growing network of pipelines proved a rich source of income for the Thyssen pipe works which was flooded with fresh orders, including commissions from a large number of local authorities like Gladbeck, Bottrop and Bruckhausen. In 1903 a new company entitled "Wasserwerk Thyssen & Co. GmbH, Styrum" was entered into the trading register by Thyssen.

After he had re-located his business enterprises to his coalfields on the Rhine, Thyssen sold off the Styrum Waterworks in 1912. The new owner, the Rhineland-Westphalian Waterworks Company took over responsibility of supply the area with water and maintaining the water basins, the pumps and the tower.

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