Upper lock
The upper lock in Hinterhermsdorf (Saxony) is a dam on the German-Czech border river Kirnitzsch and dams the water over a length of 700 meters. It was originally a facility for timber rafting. During the summer months, boat trips are offered on the reservoir. The water depth at the boat entry point is one meter and at the dam wall seven meters. The water temperature hardly rises above 8 ° C even in summer. In the winter months when no boat trips are offered, the water is not dammed, during this time the Kirnitzsch flows in its original river bed.
history
The Kirnitzsch has been used for rafting wood since the 16th century . The increasing demand for wood was responsible for the fact that the Kirnitzsch had to be developed as a raft water. To provide the necessary amount of water, raft ponds and dams were built. This also included the Upper and Lower Locks , which are the largest dams in Saxon Switzerland.
In 1567, on the instructions of Elector August von Sachsen , a wooden dam was built. This was used to collect and raft felled trees from the area of the rear Saxon Switzerland . In the years 1816/17 the wooden construction was replaced by a stone dam. Opening the dam creates a tidal wave, which enables the up to 11 meter long tree trunks to be floated into the Elbe . The raftsmen were able to accompany the trunks through the rafting path that runs along the Kirnitzsch. In 1931 a seven meter high dam was built, which is now a protected technical monument. The upper lock reservoir is between 80 centimeters (boat station) and seven meters (dam) deep.
The Upper Lock has been used for boat trips by the Saxonia Mountain Association since 1879. On May 25, 1879, with the support of the head forester Schlegel and the people of Hinterhermsdorf, the first boat was launched on the upper lock. It was an oak boat weighing 800 kg and was inaugurated under the name Saxonia . With the beginning of the boat trips there was a sharp increase in the number of visitors. Another boat was added the following year. As early as 1881, the mountain association had a refuge built and the boat attendant was allowed to offer food and drinks to summer visitors. In 1894 the boat trip counted more than 10,000 guests.
During the First and Second World War , the punt operation was interrupted. Until before the Second World War, responsibility for the lock lay with the mountain association and from 1952 with the community of Hinterhermsdorf . Wood was rafted on the Kirnitzsch until 1964. Only then was the Upper Lock used exclusively for tourism. The approximately 20-minute boat trip is offered every year from Easter to the end of October. During the boat trip, the boat guests are informed about interesting facts about the lock and about the flora and fauna.
Visitor numbers
- 1882: 1,700 visitors
- 1894: 10,450 visitors
- 1938: 36,340 visitors
- 1956: 85,000 visitors
- after 1956 sometimes up to 100,000 visitors
- 2009: 55,000 visitors
- 2010: 35,720 visitors (flood in summer 2010)
- 2011: 48,000 visitors
- 2015: 49,209 visitors
- 2016: 46,392 visitors
- 2017: 46,399 visitors
Visitor numbers 2009–2011 according to Sächsischer Zeitung (Pirna edition) from November 12, 2011
flora
The shady, cool and damp gorge is characterized by a dark spruce forest. Some of the spruce trees have already reached a considerable age. A variety of ferns, mosses and lichens also grow. On the other hand, a lighter heather and pine forest grows on the sunny and dry heights above the gorge.
Others
Due to the beautiful landscape and the easy accessibility, the Obere Schleuse was also the location for several films. In the fall of 1984, for example, a scene from the Police Call 110 episode “ One step too far ” on GDR television was filmed here.
photos
Rindenhütte at the boat station
Boat trip
Dam
literature
- Karl Möckel: 100 years of boat trips in Obere Schleuse, Klamm: 1879–1979. Hinterhermsdorf 1979
- Manfred Schober : The beginning of the boat trips on the upper lock near Hinterhermsdorf. In: Sächsische Schweiz Initiative, issue 35/2018, pp. 22–24
- Joachim Wünsch: The Upper Lock near Hinterhermsdorf. in: Sächsische Heimatblätter Heft 6/1960, pp. 375–378
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ingo Geier: Upper lock. (No longer available online.) In: wandern-saechsische-schweiz.de. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015 ; accessed on January 1, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Sächsischer Zeitung (Pirna edition) of February 17, 2016
- ^ Sächsischer Zeitung (Pirna edition) of February 27, 2018
- ^ Sächsischer Zeitung (Pirna edition) of February 27, 2018
- ↑ Documentation of the GDR-FS / DFF , German Broadcasting Archive (DRA) Potsdam-Babelsberg
Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ′ 35 ″ N , 14 ° 23 ′ 16 ″ E