Floods in the Eastern Ore Mountains in 1927

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The floods in the Osterzgebirge in 1927 occurred in the river areas of Gottleuba and Müglitz in the Osterzgebirge .

On the night of July 8th to 9th, 1927, after several days of rain during a Vb weather situation, a thunderstorm front passed through, which in the headwaters of Gottleuba and Müglitz, the Erzgebirgskamm in the area of Sattelberg , Mückentürmchen and Geisingberg , one within 25 minutes Caused precipitation of 113 millimeters. In Dohna the flow of the Müglitz reached a value of 330 m³ / s, in the town of Gottleuba the flow of the Gottleuba even reached 400 m³ / s. For comparison: At the Schöna gauge, the Elbe reaches an average discharge (MQ, here based on the years 1980–2008) of 305 m³ / s.

The masses of water surprised the residents of the valley settlements at night. There was almost no advance warning, so that a total of around 160 fatalities were to be mourned, 88 of them in Berggießhübel alone . The flood in the Eastern Ore Mountains in 1927 was thus one of the most devastating flood disasters in Germany's recent past.

history

The Eastern Ore Mountains , and here in particular the catchment areas of Gottleuba , Müglitz and Weißeritz , are among the classic flood formation areas in Saxony . Heavy precipitation with devastating flash floods, which caused great damage and claimed numerous lives, has been proven here since 1560 . In the Müglitztal alone, eighteen severe flood disasters occurred between 1609 and 2002. According to records, almost 60 severe floods have occurred in the valleys of Gottleuba and Müglitz in the last 500 years. The floods of the recent past, i. H. the years 1897 , 1927 , 1957 and 2002 produced partly devastating devastation. Under these recent floods, the event of 8/9. July 1927 emerged in a particularly tragic way due to the probably 160 deaths.

Eastern Ore Mountains flood formation area

Origin, course and consequences of the catastrophe of 8/9 July 1927 as well as numerous other heavy floods in the Eastern Ore Mountains were determined by the complex interplay of precipitation events and the characteristics of the area.

Precipitation characteristics

The location and shape of the Eastern Ore Mountains have always favored the formation of orographic air mass boundaries and thus the formation of high levels of precipitation. From initially several days of rain, torrential torrential pouring developed in the past, the total rainfall of which in the upper areas reached extreme values ​​in some cases up to the limit of what is physically possible.

The floods of 1927 (like the floods of 1897, 1957 and 2002) were due to Vb weather conditions . Low pressure areas brought extremely humid and warm air with high precipitation potential on the Mediterranean - Polish Baltic coast, which caused heavy and long-lasting rain (extensive precipitation). Since Saxony came to the western flank of this low, the air masses were pressed from the north against the Ore Mountains. The damming effect led to the rain of the saturated air masses on the north side. At the same time, the decreasing train speed caused a longer stationary stay over the mountains. There was complete raining of convective precipitation with torrential showers and thunderstorms.

Territory characteristics

topography

The Eastern Ore Mountains rivers have catchment areas that are comparatively rich in relief energy . While the source areas of Müglitz and Gottleuba are at an altitude of approx. 700 to 800 meters, the mouths into the Elbe , which are reached after 34 and 49 kilometers respectively, are at approx. 110 meters. Thus, the rivers have a steep terrain gradient with great height differences in a very small area. That is why the river valleys cut steeply and narrowly into the underground rock. Natural retention areas , e.g. B. in the form of larger valley widenings, are hardly available or have been used for the development of settlement and transport areas since the middle of the 19th century. The high gradient and the inadequate retention areas cause the water to flow at high speeds, especially during floods.

Forest poverty

Before they were settled, the river basins of Gottleuba and Müglitz belonged to the dense forest area that stretched from the edge of the Elbe valley to the ridges and the southern Bohemian slope of the Ore Mountains . At the time of the floods in 1927, however, the headwaters of both rivers were described as poorly forested. Even today, only about 45% (202 square kilometers) of the approx. 460 square kilometer catchment areas of Müglitz and Gottleuba are forested. The relatively low proportion of forest for a low mountain range is u. a. a consequence of the settlement beginning in the 12th century. With the conquest of the land, the forest landscape in the Eastern Ore Mountains was transformed within a few decades into a cultural landscape characterized by villages, towns, fields and traffic routes. This settlement activity led to extensive clearing , as the consumption of firewood in the 16th century alone was estimated at at least 20 cubic meters per house and year. Added to this was the consumption for the construction of houses (half-timbering, clapboards, etc.) and the production of daily consumer goods (home furnishings). Even after fires, large amounts of wood were needed to rebuild. The total wood consumption of a settler in the middle of the 16th century was over 500 kilograms per year.

The settlement-related stress of the forest was the iron ore mining in the region around Berggiesshuebel and Bad Gottleuba and Zinnerzabbau of Altenberg and Zinnwald reinforced. Both the mining itself and the metallurgy were existentially dependent on wood as a building material and on charcoal as an energetic basis. The production of one kilogram of iron alone required 29 to 46 kilograms of wood. The required quantities of wood were felled largely without considering the regenerative capacity of the forests, which led to their consumption and devastation. Iron ore mining and iron ore smelting in the central Gottleuba region alone consumed one to two square kilometers of forest per year during the heyday (16th century).

The fact is that forests can mitigate the effects of floods. They have an intensive and extensive root system , which has a high water-conducting and water-storing effect. While about 65 to 70 liters of water per square meter can seep away on a flat forest floor, it is only 20 liters on an equally large pasture area. Another part of the precipitation can be held back by the canopy and evaporates from there. In the coniferous forests in the Eastern Ore Mountains, around 30 to 40% of the precipitation does not even reach the ground, as it is converted into water vapor by the trees and released back into the atmosphere.

Emergence

The flood resulted from a storm front, which moved from the southwest, from Bohemia (region around Tetschen (Děčín)) over the Ore Mountains. On the Mückenberg (Komáří hůrka) and the Sattelberg (Špičák u Krásného Lesa) this parted and rained down in the Müglitz and Gottleubatal valleys. Part of this thunderstorm was stopped by the Schneeberg (Děčínský Sněžník) and later poured into the source areas of the Müglitz and Gottleuba. Between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., the thunderstorm settled in the Sattelberg area, after which it hit the town of Schönwald. The Gottleuba, which is normally three meters wide, widened to 80 to 100 meters. Tidal waves formed that plunged up to six meters into the valleys. The amount of water that fell was estimated at 120 to 150 liters per square meter. In Schönwald (Krásný Les) fell 209 millimeters of precipitation. Further exact dates are not known, as several measuring points of the state weather station fell victim to the storm.

Number of victims

The high number of fatalities resulted primarily from the rapid rise in the water level, the high flow speeds, the flow of floating debris and the short advance warning times. In addition, many people were surprised in their sleep by the second tidal wave that struck around midnight. A particular tragedy resulted from the partial extinction of entire families. However, the exact number of people who perished in the devastating storm cannot be precisely quantified to this day, since in particular the number of guests, day-trippers and workers (who were busy laying a telephone line in the direction of Vienna, among other things) ) is still fraught with uncertainties. In the literature, the number of victims therefore fluctuates between 146 and 158 dead. It seems realistic to assume around 160 victims. The figures given below include all flood victims who died in the communities, ie both residents and guests (spa guests, workers, etc.).

Bad Gottleuba: Memorial for the flood victims in the cemetery
  • Oelsengrund: 4
  • Hartmannsbach (district of Rittergut Giesenstein): 2
  • Gottleuba: 9
  • Berggießhübel: 88
  • Fürstenwalde (district Kratzhammer): 8
  • Bear stone: 3
  • Johnsbach: 1
  • Bear hedge: 5
  • Glashütte: 12
  • Cunnersdorf: 1
  • Schlottwitz: 2
  • Mühlbach-Häselich: 1
  • Weesenstein: 5
  • Pirna: 3
  • Pirna (Rottwerndorf district): 1
  • Pirna (Neundorf district): 9

Damage

High water mark in Berggießhübel

Damage also occurred to tributaries and streams such as the Bahra , Trebnitz, Red Water and the Fürstenwälder, Liebenauer and Hartmannsbacher Dorfbach. The precipitates that poured out within a very short period of time accumulated due to alluvial wood in many cases at valley bottlenecks and bridges. As a result, reservoirs up to 8 m high were formed, which repeatedly broke and intensified the flood due to tidal waves. The inferno exceeded the heavy floods of 30/31 just 30 years ago. July 1897 many times over. Property damage of over 100 million Reichsmarks was caused to buildings and infrastructure . The following places were particularly affected:

Bohemia

Schönwald

In the community of Schönwald , 26 houses were badly damaged or destroyed.

Gottleubatal

On the railway lines from Pirna to Gottleuba and Großcotta , seven or two bridges were completely destroyed. Continuous rail traffic between Pirna and Gottleuba was only possible again in September. In the Gottleubatal, ten bridges on the valley road and its connecting roads were severely damaged or completely torn away. The town of Berggießhübel was almost completely destroyed along the Gottleuba.

Oelsengrund

A lot of wood and rubble was washed ashore in the Oelsengrund. The water washed away 17 quintals heavy rocks. The Köhler mill (Friedrich Gotthard Köhler) disappeared completely, as did the farm building of the Meisel mill. The barn and the side building of the Paust mill and the Clemens mill were also destroyed. The Forester's House Haselberg and the Hammergut were almost completely destroyed. The connecting road from the Bährmühle to Gottleuba and the bridge to Hartmannsbach no longer exist. Two residents were killed.

Gottleuba

The road leading from the Bährmühle to Bad Gottleuba was completely destroyed. The Zimmermann property with the feed and grain stores located there was badly damaged, so that it had to be torn down. In the city center, the residents had to be evacuated from the upper floors using ladders; the ground floors of numerous buildings were completely muddy. Several buildings collapsed during the flood, others were so badly damaged that they had to be removed afterwards. This also included the Gottleuba school building. The Gottleubabrücken to Helleberg and Giesenstein collapsed under the force of the water masses. There were a total of nine fatalities, including two summer guests. The Gottleuba victims of the disaster were buried on July 12, 1927 in the city cemetery.

Berggießhübel

The storm began with thunder and lightning around 4 p.m. and lasted for about ten hours. At around 9:00 p.m., it rained heavily and at around 10:00 p.m. the seawall was already half a meter under water. Above the city, the water dammed up to a height of seven meters on the railway bridge of the Gottleubatalbahn, which was blocked by driftwood. At about 11:30 p.m. the water broke through this obstacle and poured itself over the city as a two to three meter high tidal wave with a discharge rate of an estimated 400 m³ / s without warning. The Gottleuba left only a field of rubble in the center of the city. 15 houses were immediately destroyed, another 22 had to be demolished later, 23 houses were badly damaged. All roads and bridges in the place were completely destroyed. A food shortage emerged, since z. B. all three butchers were killed and the grocery stores and bakeries were destroyed. Of the approximately 1,300 inhabitants, 88, including 12 children, perished. In the Zwiesel district, two buildings were torn away and a third was so badly destroyed that it had to be demolished. There were seven deaths here.

  • The main street before the flood (photo from 1915, view in north direction), the row of houses on the right was destroyed by the flood and not rebuilt, the row of houses on the left was also destroyed

  • The main street after the reconstruction (photo from 1929, view in north direction), the Gottleuba flows roughly where the destroyed row of houses stood, the row of houses on the left was rebuilt after the destruction

  • Memorial stone for the flood victims

Langenhennersdorf

The mill moat of the Schmidt & Co mill is destroyed. At the Hering sawmill, the power station and the mill house have disappeared. A scree slope of four meters was in the courtyard of the Bährschen mill.

Pirna

On July 8, around 8:45 p.m., Gottleuba reported flooding. At around 02:30 am, the residents were woken up by sirens from the fire brigade and the exclamation “flood is coming”. A hole about fifteen meters wide and four meters deep was torn between the Carolabad and the former rowing club house. The (partly former) streets were completely flooded: Breite Straße ( Dohnaische Vorstadt ), Dohnaische Straße ( old town ), Gartenstraße, Reichsstraße, Klosterstraße ( Westvorstadt ), Bahnhofsstraße, Grohmannstraße, Schmiedestraße, Lange Straße and Rottwerndorfer Straße ( Südvorstadt ). Extensive damage was caused to the former Rottwerndorf manor , which belonged to the city at the time. According to rough estimates, there were 25,000 marks in material damage, 35,000 - 40,000 marks in building damage and 15,000 - 20,000 marks in crop damage.

In the Neundorf district , the flood rose one and a half meters higher than in 1897. The tidal wave was at times up to three meters high. At around 11:30 p.m. the telephone connection to Berggießhübel was interrupted, and the lights went out. Several people were killed in the subsequent flood. The former blacksmith's shop and the associated house were torn away. Some residents were able to hold on to drifting wood and building materials and thus escaped the flood.

Müglitztal

Müglitztalbahn

The railway systems of the Müglitz Valley Railway, which runs in large sections directly next to the Müglitz, were largely destroyed or severely damaged in the section between Lauenstein and Dohna . The second tidal wave tore the evening train standing in Glashütte with it over 300 meters. Overall, the flood destroyed about 20 kilometers of the route, the remaining sections were largely no longer passable due to undercutting, silting up and the deposition of rubble. Of the 28 railway bridges between Köttewitz and Lauenstein , 24 collapsed. This meant that one of the main traffic routes in the Eastern Ore Mountains was canceled for a long period of time. For passenger transport, replacement rail services with buses via Dippoldiswalde were set up. Freight traffic was also shifted to the road (insofar as this was possible and still necessary in view of the destroyed commercial sites). The reconstruction of the line was more like a new construction due to the financial and material expenditure. The first section between Heidenau and Köttewitz was put back into operation on July 26th, the remaining sections followed step-by-step: August 15: Lauenstein - Altenberg , August 18: Köttewitz– Weesenstein , October 3: Weesenstein– Häselich , 13 October: Häselich– Oberschlottwitz , November 15: Oberschlottwitz– Glashütte . It was not until December 1st that the route was open to traffic again. The resumption of operation of the valley's "lifeline" was enthusiastically celebrated in the neighboring communities. At the same time, the heavy destruction and the costly reconstruction measures gave rise to considerations to convert the narrow-gauge line to standard gauge. The aim of these considerations was to raise the route by up to 15 meters to reduce future flood damage.

Scratch hammer

The Hammergut Kratzhammer at the northern end of Fürstenwalde was one of the first settlements affected by the Müglitz flood. The masses of water turned the valley into a desert of rubble and completely destroyed two houses. Eight people died in one of the two houses.

Lauenstein

In Lauenstein the tide raged as strongly as in Berggießhübel . However, since the center of the city is on a terrace above the Müglitz and there were no closed rows of houses along the river in the city, the flood damage was far less dramatic than in the neighboring Gottleubatal. However, the railway systems in the valley were badly damaged. It was thanks to the efforts of the two Lauenstein railway officials that the evening train of the Müglitztalbahn could be stopped in Glashütte , which probably saved the lives of many more people. The two officers themselves died in the floods.

Glassworks

Glashütte: Devastation after the flood

In the watchmaking town of Glashütte , located at the confluence of the Prießnitz and Müglitz rivers , a flood alarm was triggered at around 7:30 p.m. Immediately afterwards, the first tidal wave that quickly penetrated the lower town reached the place. However, this "only" caused property damage. The second tidal wave, which reached the city around 11:45 p.m., had a much more devastating effect. Within a few minutes the water entered the city again with great force. The Müglitz, which carried large quantities of debris and debris, grew in the lower part of the city around the station in a very short time to 100 meters wide and two meters high. Individual tidal waves are said to have reached a height of up to six meters. The evening train of the Müglitztalbahn standing in the station was completely enclosed by the floods, and some of the wagons were washed away 300 meters. Two of the wagons that were washed away smashed the Kurfürst-Moritz-Brücke over the Müglitz, built in 1545 and which had withstood the heavy flood of July 31, 1897 . The passengers trapped in the car were rescued by the fire brigade around 2:30 a.m. After the tide subsided, the station area was about three feet high covered in mud, rubble and mud. The city put the flood damage at around 100,000 Reichsmarks. A total of twelve people were killed in the water in Glashütte.

Dohna

Many cellars were under water and a shed and stables were torn away by the flood. Many bridges were badly damaged. The Ploschwitzer Bridge, which led the main lines of the water and gas pipeline, was badly damaged, so that both lines burst and the electricity and gas supply came to a standstill. Hundreds of meters of wood were washed away from the Köttewitz paper factory.

Heidenau

A great many residential and farm buildings were affected. Mühlenstrasse was badly damaged. The bridge that spanned the Müglitz at the mouth of the Elbe was completely torn away.

Seidewitztal

Liebstadt

A tidal wave from the Seidewitz and its tributaries poured into Liebstadt , located in a narrow basin below Kuckuckstein Castle , at around 11:30 p.m. , completely inundating the city within two minutes. The water masses should have been about one and a half meters high in the streets and houses, because eyewitnesses reported that residents tried to stand up to their necks in the water to bring their belongings to safety. At this point in time, Liebstadt was already cut off from the power supply and was in complete darkness. The water masses, enriched with extensive flotsam, began to decline after midnight, but damaged or destroyed the streets and bridges of the city so severely within this short time that the place was initially cut off from the outside world. Several houses showed severe damage from collapsed gables and walls torn away, while smaller outbuildings (sheds, storage), including parts of the Carlowitz manor, were completely washed away. One house had to be demolished in the aftermath of the flood. The Niedermühle and the Mittelmühle were badly devastated by the floods, the old sawmill of the Niedermühle was subsequently demolished. A total of around 100 residents in Liebstadt were affected by the flood damage. In contrast to the places in the neighboring valleys, there were no fatalities in the city, as the Seidewitz, unlike Gottleuba and Müglitz, is still a comparatively small river in the course of the city and people quickly open up from the back exits of their houses due to the narrowness of the valley could escape the valley slopes.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Saxon State Office for Environment and Geology: Event analysis flood 2002 in the Eastern Ore Mountains rivers. Dresden 2004, p. 44
  2. ^ Saxon State Office for Environment and Geology: Event analysis flood 2002 in the Eastern Ore Mountains rivers. Dresden 2004, p. 97
  3. ^ Saxon State Office for Environment and Geology: Event analysis flood 2002 in the Eastern Ore Mountains rivers. Dresden 2004, p. 122

literature

  • Alt, Eugen, and Fickert, Richard: The flood disaster on July 8, 1927 in the eastern Ore Mountains. (= Scientific treatises of the Reichsamt für Wetterdienst Volume II, No. 4), Julius Springer Verlag Berlin 1936
  • Reports of the Pirnaer Anzeiger from 1927
  • G. Dietzschold: The storm over the eastern Ore Mountains on July 8, 1927. Part 1 in "Journal for Applied Meteorology 'Das Wetter'", 45th year, issue 4, April 1928, pp. 105-114, part 2 in Issue 5, May 1928, pp. 135-143
  • Wolfgang Dörschel / Volkmar Köckeritz: Flood hazard and flood protection of the railways in the eastern Ore Mountains. in: transpress VEB publishing house for traffic [Hrsg.]: Eisenbahn Jahrbuch 1980. Berlin 1979. S. 123-132.
  • Willy Fojt: For the distribution of high daily sums of precipitation in the Ore Mountains region. In: "Zeitschrift für Meteorologie", 19th year, issue 9/10 (1967), pp. 290-300 ( The flood in 1927 as reflected in the heavy rain events between 1934 and 1962 in the entire Ore Mountains )
  • Lutz Hennig: Damage area Müglitztal. Weesenstein and the floods of the last 100 years. Weesenstein 2003.
  • Jobst, Walter (ed.): To Gottleuba, Berggießhübel and Liebstadt. Results of the local history inventory in the area of ​​Gottleuba. (= Values ​​of the German homeland , volume 4) Akademie-Verlag Berlin 1961 ( on damage and reconstruction in the Gottleubatal )
  • Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz [Hrsg.]: Communications. Volume XVI. Issue 9-12. Special issue on the flood disaster in the Eastern Ore Mountains. Dresden 1927. ( digitized version , copies )
  • Rudolf Landgraf: Berggießhübler hiking guide. A home book. Roßwein 1938.
  • Marx, Siegfried: A contribution to the frequency of floods in the Eastern Ore Mountains. In: "Zeitschrift für Meteorologie", 18th year, issue 1/2 (1966), pp. 82-87, with an addendum in issue 9/10 (1967), p. 301 ( The flood of 1927 in the mirror of the flood of Müglitz and Gottleuba since 1445 )
  • Marx, Siegfried: About large and heavy precipitation in the Eastern Ore Mountains and in the southern Elbe Sandstone Mountains. In: "Zeitschrift für Meteorologie", 18th year, issue 5–7 (1966), pp. 259–267 ( The flood of 1927 as reflected in the heavy rain events between 1934 and 1962 and the causes of the accumulation of floods, especially in the Eastern Ore Mountains )
  • Müller, Gerhardt (Ed.): Between Müglitz and Weißeritz. Results of the local history inventory in the Dippoldiswalde / Glashütte area. (= Values ​​of the German homeland , Volume 8) Akademie-Verlag Berlin 1964 ( On damage and reconstruction in the Müglitztal )
  • Neubert, Richard: On the severe weather disaster from 8.-9. July 1927 in the Müglitz and Gottleuba valleys. In: "Journal for applied meteorology 'Das Wetter'", 45th year, issue 7, July 1928, pp. 208-213
  • Neubert, Richard: On the severe weather disaster from 8.-9. July 1927 in the Müglitz and Gottleuba valleys. In: " Meteorologische Zeitschrift ", Volume 45, Issue 5, May 1928, pp. 180-182 ( Not identical to the article of the same name in the "Zeitschrift für angewandte Meteorologie 'Das Wetter'" )
  • Verkehrsverband Saxon Switzerland / Eastern Ore Mountains: Help! It is still the greatest need in the flood areas of the Eastern Ore Mountains. Pirna 1927.

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