The ponds of the Lower Harz Pond and Ditch System

Lower Harz Pond and Ditch System

Within the Lower Harz region are still many traces of the historical water management facilities used by the mining industry. In addition to water-carrying ditches and ponds, there are also long-abandoned ditches and dry pond beds...

 consist of around 20 small and larger reservoirs. The majority were laid out roughly from the beginning of the 17th century between the Upper Lude, Großer Auerberg

Großer Auerberg

The Große Auerberg is a hill, high, in the eastern Harz in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.The hill has twin peaks that are 580.4 m and 580.3 m high, which are about 500 metres apart...

, Straßberg, Neudorf and Silberhütte

Silberhütte (Harzgerode)

Silberhütte is a village in the borough of Harzgerode in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its name means "silver works", a place where silver ore is smelted.- Geography :Silberhütte lies in the Selke valley of the Lower Harz....

. Several of the pond barrages are classified as dams. The dam of the Gräfiggründer Teich is also the second oldest reservoir in Germany.

The ponds are located in the mining fields of Straßberg, Silberhütte, Birnbaum and Neudorf.

Table of ponds

Name	Laid as	Built	Dam length	Mining field	Present usage
Gräfiggründer Teich	unknown	before 1320	100	Straßberg	bathing pool
Möllerteich	Kunstteich Kunstteich A Kunstteich is an historic German term for a man-made lake or pond associated with the mining industry and its technology. These ponds were created by the construction of barriers, typically dams and embankments, and were used to supply hydropower and water to the mines. Water stored in the...	1745	ca. 80	Straßberg	hunting (privately owned)
Kiliansteich, upper	Kunstteich	1610	110	Straßberg	drinking water (pre-dam)
Kiliansteich, middle	Kunstteich	1703		Straßberg	flooded
Kiliansteich], III	Kunstteich	1703	210	Straßberg	drinking water
Kiliansteich Kiliansteich Dam The Kiliansteich is one of the oldest dammed reservoirs in Germany. The reservoir is located near Straßberg in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and supplies drinking water. It impounds the Büschengraben stream... , lower	Kunstteich	1703		Straßberg	flooded
Frankenteich Frankenteich The Frankenteich is an old reservoir in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. It was constructed in 1716 under the direction of mining director , Christian Zacharias Koch, for the mining industry and is the largest pond in the Lower Harz. Since 1901 it has supplied drinking water to the village...	Kunstteich	1724	150	Straßberg	drinking water
Maliniusteich	Kunstteich & Hüttenteich	1706 - 1707	80	Straßberg	drinking water ?
Die drei Treuen Nachbarn (unknown)	Kunstteich	um 1704		Straßberg	none (silted up)
Die drei Treuen Nachbarn (Fauler Pfützenteich)	Kunstteich	1704	240	Straßberg	fish breeding
Die drei Treuen Nachbarn (Treuer Nachbarteich)	Kunstteich	1703 - 1704	140	Straßberg	bathing pool, water management
Glasebacher Teich Glasebacher Teich The Glasebacher Teich was an artificial reservoir or Kunstteich laid out near the village of Straßberg in the Harz Mountains of Germany for mining purposes. With a capacity of about 300,000 m³ it was the second largest pond in the Lower Harz. It impounded the Glasebach stream.- History :The pond...	Kunstteich	1716		Straßberg	none (dam broken)
Kalbsaugenteich (Kalbesauger Teich?)	Kunstteich	1779		Birnbaum	none (empty)
Birnbaumteich Birnbaumteich The Birnbaumteich is a dam in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, located near Neudorf in the Harz mountains.- History :It was completed in 1699 and taken into service for mining operations in the Neudorf mining district. In 1963 the dam had to be repaired because the penstock had collapsed. In 1967...	Hüttenteich	1699	144	Birnbaum	bathing pool
Teufelsteich Teufelsteich The Teufelsteich was one of the oldest reservoirs in the Harz Mountains of central Germany.It was built in 1697 near Harzgerode and Quedlinburg for mining purposes. In 1837/38 it was raised to support silver mining....	Kunstteich	1696 - 1697	211	Silberhütte	drinking water
Fürstenteich Fürstenteich The Fürstenteich is a reservoir near Silberhütte in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It has an earth-filled dam with an impervious core. It impounds the Teufelsgrundbach stream.- Construction :...	Hüttenteich	1729	110	Silberhütte	water management
Silberhütter Pochwerksteich	Hüttenteich	before 1779		Neudorf	none (filled in)
Silberhütter sewage farm	sewage farm	1890		Neudorf	none (filled in)
Grenzteich	fishpond	before 1721		Neudorf	fishpond
Neudorfer Gemeindeteich	fishpond	before 1777		Neudorf	firefighting reservoir
Heller Wasserkunst (Neudorfer 1. kleiner Teich)	Kunstteich	1860		Neudorf	none (heavily silted up)
Neudorfer 2. kleiner Teich	Kunstteich	before 1811		Neudorf	none (empty)
Neudorfer Kunstteich	Kunstteich	1764	145	Neudorf	sewage farm
unknown	Kunstteich	1764	145	Neudorf	1st pre-dam Neudorfer Kunstteich
unknown	Kunstteich	1764	145	Neudorf	2nd pre-dam Neudorfer Kunstteich
unknown (am Büschengraben)			ca. 40	Straßberg	unknown

Sources

• Wilfried Strenz, Historisch-geographische Forschungen in der DDR
• Robert Wouters (Hrsg. Damnbetrieb Sachsen-Anhalt), Damn in Sachsen-Anhalt, ISBN 9783898126779
• Wilfried Ließmann: Historischer Bergbau im Harz, ISBN 9783540313281

External links

• Straßberg
• harzlife.de
• harzkaleidoskop.de