The tower is located in Springergässchen, but is called "The Lower Fountain Tower on Mauerberg." Between the 16th century and 1879, the former defensive tower in the city wall became Augsburg's second-largest waterworks. The pumps were powered by a waterwheel in the Brunnenbach stream flowing past, which is diverted here over the Stadtbach.
In 1538, the Lower Fountain Tower was improved and raised, and a separate pump house was built at its base (now Lilium). This now drove a machine consisting of seven Archimedean screws, arranged vertically one above the other and moved by a common vertical shaft via wooden gears. This Machina Augustana was described in detail in 1554 by the Milanese scholar Hieronymus Cardanus. The water from the Stadtbach served to power the machine, while the water pumped up by the screws was from the Brunnenbach.
17th and 18th centuries
Around 1684, the water tower was expanded by three additional stories, double its height. By this time, the Machina Augustana had already been replaced by waterwheel-driven crank pumps. In 1737, the chairman of the Lower Waterworks, Caspar Walter, increased the number of crank pumps from three to four. After proving his skills at this waterworks, he later became Augsburg's city fountain master.