Wasserwerk Aurich, Water tower in Aurich, Germany

The Wasserwerk Aurich is a protected ensemble of four buildings: a five-storey brick water tower with plaster panels and a polygonal roof lantern, a single-storey plastered dwelling with brick trim under a hipped roof, a brick pump house from 1911 with a seven-axis facade and a curved gable bearing a coat of arms, and a filter house added in the 1960s.

Construction of this water facility began in 1907 and the tower was completed in 1910 to solve water shortages in the town. The complex operated for decades before being taken out of service in the 1970s when a newer plant took over the water supply.

The complex mixes historicist forms with Art Nouveau and Reform architecture details, such as the curved gable of the machine house, which carries the town coat of arms and a bay window. The water tower's polygonal roof helmet ends in a small lantern. The ensemble can only be viewed from outside.

The complex can only be viewed from the outside; there is no interior access. It stands on Wasserwerksweg in northern Aurich, west of Eickebuscher Weg, and is owned by the city. The buildings are protected as a monument, so visitors should keep to the public paths and not enter the grounds.

In the 1980s the pump house was turned into an architect's office, a change that saved the protected complex from demolition. This unexpected new use preserved the entire site for future generations.