Hungersee (Breitungen)
Coordinates: 51 ° 29 '38 " N , 11 ° 2' 48" E
The Hungersee is a depression in the ground near Breitungen in the southern Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt , which was episodically flooded from the 17th century until the 1950s. The Hungersee probably has a connection to the Bauerngraben , which is also sometimes referred to as the Hungersee . The area of the former Hungersee is part of the nature reserve Gipskarstlandschaft Questenberg .
description
The depression lies between Mühlweg and the Weidendamm, south of the Kalkberg and was created by the leaching of gypsum underground. The water will probably be filled underground. Originally the area was only moist at the deepest point, the rest of the water flowed away through an old underground tunnel. This must have collapsed in the 17th century, so that the drainage was no longer reliable. The first written mention of a water filling of the valley came from the year 1698. Even then, a connection to the Bauerngraben was suspected, but could not be proven. Soon after the first filling, fish were put in that thrived until the lake dried up again. Since this was not possible at this time in the valley, which was of enormous importance for local agriculture, the lake brought hunger and hardship for the farmers in Breitach. Fishing could not compensate for this, which is why the name Hungersee was coined.
In the course of mining near Breitungen, a drainage system, the Reusche , was built. However, this solution turned out to be insufficient. From the time between 1714 and 1774, around 1870 (consistently several years), 1926/1927 and 1956/1957 further fillings of the depression are documented. It was not until 1957 that the problem was permanently resolved in the GDR . Several tubes with a diameter of about one meter were let into a specially created drainage ditch. This had a length of 450 m, a width of 17.5 m and a depth of 5.40 m. In addition, a sump was built near the lake that leads the Breiter Bach into this ditch. In the Freiheit of July 12, 1957 it was reported that the lake was soon only half its size and that some pieces of arable land on the outermost edge of the lake had already been plowed and that the reclamation of the remaining area would soon begin. The drainage cost 200,000 marks .
Current condition
The hunger lake is dry. Only at the deepest point is there reed growth, which shows that the subsoil is still damp.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b karstwanderweg.de: The Hungersee near Breitungen , accessed on June 17, 2017
literature
- 1961–2006, 1045 years of the Breitungen community, festival magazine
- Article in Freedom of July 12, 1957