Spremberg Dam and its associated reservoir (Spremberger Stausee) lie between Cottbus

Cottbus

Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...

 and Spremberg

Spremberg

Spremberg is a village near to the city of Hoyerswerda in the Spree-Neiße district of Brandenburg, Germany. The village was first mentioned in 1956. The village alone has only 9,588 Inhabitants, the hole region has 21,361 Inhabitants-Geography:...

 and impound the River Spree. Together with the surrounding countryside they make up the protected landscape also known as the Talsperre Spremberg. The dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 itself is made of earth and is the only one in the state of Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

 that counts as a "large dam". Its purposes are industrial water supply, flood protection, electricity generation

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...

, drought protection and recreation

Recreation

Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...

. It was taken into service on 8 October 1965.