As of: March 25, 2024, 9:00 a.m
By: Christine Wölfle
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Over 50 guests came to the opening of the “200 Years of Lexe” exhibition at the Schongau City Museum.
© Wölfle
From the forge fire to the scaled carp: The special exhibition “200 Years of Lexe” in the city museum impressively illuminates the eventful history of the area in the east of Schongau.
Rating: definitely worth seeing.
Schongau
– The special exhibition is divided into three sections: Each one is its own story.
200 years ago, the hammer forge was built in the “Peitnach” area, an ideal location for a water-powered hammer mill.
Franz Grundner presented its operation and history at the opening of the exhibition.
By the way: Everything from the region is also available in our regular Schongau newsletter.
And in our Weilheim-Penzberg newsletter.
“Unfortunately there is nothing left of it, the buildings were demolished in 1980, although the forge has always been a tourist attraction,” added Harald Scharrer.
Although the buildings are gone, some things remain from the time of the hammersmiths and can now be admired in the museum.
Accidental find in the Köhlerstadl
Handmade tools with the sign “Hartmann”, the blacksmith dynasty of the time.
And the highlight was the huge leather bellows that fueled the forge fire.
This came to light by chance during a clean-up operation in the Köhlerstadl depot.
But how did it go from being used as a hammer forge to becoming a forest swimming pool?
“The Hartmann family noticed early on that the forge would soon no longer be viable due to the industrial production of tools,” explained Scharrer, who led through the second part of the exhibition with many anecdotes.
So the Hartmanns switched.
Agriculture, trees, bees and fish
They expanded agriculture, bred fruit trees, bees and even fish.
The biggest project, however, was the construction of the forest swimming pool, which many of the more than 50 guests at the exhibition opening could still remember.
“Hartmann was, so to speak, a hammersmith and lifeguard, sometimes with a leather apron, sometimes in a white bathing suit,” explained Scharrer.
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Numerous photographs that look as if they were taken from a health resort's advertising brochure, hand-drawn expansion plans and informative timelines provide a comprehensive insight into the past.
And they also caused some visitors to feel nostalgic.
Because Georg Hartmann died in 1961.
And with it the forest swimming pool.
All news and stories can also be found on the Schongauer Nachrichten Facebook page.
20 years later, the idea arose to build a campsite on the site that the city of Schongau had purchased.
But that would have “lost the idyllic character of the property,” it was said at the time.
The third part is dedicated to the work of the district fishing association
The Lexe has been leased to the Schongau district fishing association since 1983.
The third part of the exhibition, led through by Gunnar Prielmeier from the fishing club.
According to Prielmeier, the members do 500 hours of voluntary work every year to “keep the facility in good condition.” Anyone interested will soon be able to see for themselves how well they succeed.
Soon there will be an open day in collaboration with the historical association to experience the Lexe and its exciting history “live”.
“But before that we have to do some spring cleaning,” said Prielmeier and laughed.
The local newspapers in the Weilheim-Schongau district are represented on Instagram under “merkur_wm_sog”.
Until then, everyone is recommended to see the exhibition in the city museum, which is really worth seeing and is open until June 16th.
Every Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.