Schwarzenbergscher Schwemmkanal

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Canal tunnel

The Schwarzenbergsche Schwemmkanal ( Schwarzenberský plavební kanál in Czech ) is a timber flood system that was built in the 18th century and was used economically until the 20th century. It leads northeast of the Dreisesselberg from the Světlá (Lichtwasser) on the Bavarian-Czech border over the European main watershed near the Růžovský vrch ( Rose Hill, 939 m nm) further over the Otovský potok ( Reithbach ) and the Zwettlbach / Světlá just before Haslach into the Big mill .

history

Adam Prince zu Schwarzenberg , who had acquired the allodial lords of Krumau , Winterberg and Wallern in 1719 , quickly recognized the economic importance of the extensive forest areas of the Bohemian Forest and had the first forestry office set up in 1721. The cities' demand for wood, which rose sharply in the course of the 18th century, offered a flourishing market. The transport to the inland was mainly carried out with carts. Attempts to use the Vltava to flood logs to Prague were associated with high losses for the Princely Schwarzenberg Forest Administration, as it was not possible to overcome the rapids on the Teufelswand . For this reason, considerations arose about the possibility of a flood of wood in other areas, e.g. B. to Vienna .

Rosenauerstein

The Fürstlich Schwarzenberg engineer Joseph Rosenauer submitted plans between 1775 and 1778 to cross the watershed between the Vltava and the Danube - and thus between the North Sea and the Black Sea - via a canal from the Große Mühl into the Bohemian Forest. Rosenauer also drafted a plan for a 6.3-kilometer-long flood canal to bypass the rapids on the Vltava. The latter was favored in the period from 1780 to 1785, but was later discarded due to the fact that the proceeds for driftwood in Prague were too low compared to the construction costs and the continued cost-intensive timber supply from the forests. After the Schwarzenberg princes had acquired further goods at the end of the 18th century and thus owned 24,000 Joch forest areas in the Bohemian Forest and at the same time the need for firewood in Vienna had skyrocketed, the decision was made to build an alluvial canal after the Große Mühl. Owner of Mühlschwemme was the Schlägl that the privilege of exporting timber annually 20,000 cords of wood from 1767 for 20 years to the Bishopric of Passau was leased to a Klafterpreis two guilders 15 cruisers for hardwood and Gulden 40 Kreuzer for softwood. The Schlägl Monastery, threatened in its existence as a result of the Josephine reforms and placed under state supervision from 1782, did regain sole power of disposal over its property in 1788; However, Johann I, Prince of Schwarzenberg , who had risen to become the largest landowner in the Kingdom of Bohemia and was influential at court , saw a favorable opportunity to obtain the rights to the Mühlschwemme necessary for the alluvial canal project.

In December 1788, the Schlägler Abbot Siard II. Dengler renewed the Passau Mühl flood privilege for a further 16 years, with an annual flood of 5000 fathoms at a price of two gulden 39 kreuzer for hardwood and one gulden 40 kreuzer for softwood. After the total amount of 400,000 fathoms specified in the contract of 1767 had already been reached by the bishopric within just under two years, Emperor Joseph II declared the Passau privilege on November 27, 1789 to be terminated on November 7, 1790. At the same time, Schlägl Abbey was obliged to provide another 5,000 fathoms of wood annually for a period of 30 years, with the price being reduced to three guilders for hardwood and one guilder 45 kreuzer for softwood compared to the Passau privilege.

The Schwarzenbergsche Schwemmkanal

Construction of the alluvial canal began on April 20, 1789. Emperor Leopold II granted Prince Joseph II of Schwarzenberg on June 18, 1790 the exclusive privilege for the entire alluvial stretch, initially for 30 years. This meant that Schlägl Abbey had to tolerate the construction of a 6400 fathom long canal section including the accompanying path. Since the monastery was not ready to sell the land, the allodial rule left Krummau to the monastery for the period of use of the alluvial canal 24 Joch Wald in Brunnau northwest of the Reischlberg. The hunting and fishing rights remained with Schlägl Abbey, which was also compensated for the fishing disadvantages incurred by fishing in the Vltava between the Rotbach (Pestřice) and the Iglbach (Ježová) . The first phase of construction was completed by 1791.

From the Große Mühl up to the watershed near the Rosenhügel, natural watercourses have been carefully regulated. The subsequent slope canal ran with a minimal incline on the slopes of the Bohemian Forest and ended in Hirschbergen . It is often referred to as an engineering masterpiece and was celebrated as the “eighth wonder of the world ” in the 19th century . The wood of the Bohemian Forest was developed and sold in this way. At the end of the canal on the Austrian side, the wood drifted loosely on the Great Mühl until shortly before its confluence with the Danube. There it was intercepted with rakes in the flushing canal, loaded onto ships, transported to Vienna and - because of the low transport costs at great profit - sold as firewood. About 8 million cubic meters of firewood were transported over the Schwarzenberg canal.

Originally 29.3 km long, it was later extended several times. For a longer length, Rosenauer feared that the water supply from the various streams would be too small. The 80 cm deep canal was typically 2.20 m wide at the canal bottom and 2.80 m at the top. In the Morau, near St. Oswald near Haslach , the steep step of the alluvial canal runs, there is a boundary stone of Maria Theresa .

The old canal was fed via the Seebachriese, Hirschbachriese and Roßbachriese with water from the Plöckensteiner See , whose water level was raised by eight feet by means of a solid dam , as well as from the Hirschbachklause and the Roßbachklause. Prince Joseph II von Schwarzenberg settled forest workers from Austrian and Bavarian areas to cut the wood and to work at the Holzschwemme .

In the border forests, a large number of small wood chipper colonies emerged, which were grouped into eight communities with their own judges. These were St. Thomas with 25 houses, Fleißheim (Horní Borková) with 56 houses, Guthausen (Dobrá) with 34 houses, Haberdorf with 55 houses, Hüttenhof (Huťský Dvůr) with 52 houses, Neuthal with 43 houses, Schoberstätten (Seníky) with 23 houses and Uligthal with 16 houses; in addition there were the 13 rafters' houses near Neuthal. With the settlement contract, each of the settlers received ownership of his house with the reservation of a right of redemption in the event of unfounded non-fulfillment of his obligations. These consisted of the annual chopping of 100 fathoms at a fixed price; Any additional log quantities were paid a higher price. This work had to start after the snow melted and the daily amount should be two fathoms. During this time, the wood chippers lived in self-built forest huts in their assigned field. Depending on the distance from the house, they returned home several times a week or lived in the forest for weeks and were provided with food by their families. The men returned from the forest in mid-June and were able to do their domestic chores. The houses included five to six yokes of land at a moderate rent for the production of the most essential food and the feeding of a small herd of livestock.

In the heyday, up to 800 workers were busy washing the wood. The logs rafted on the upper Vltava were transported from the Salnau floodplain over the Scheiterstraßl with carts up to the canal. After the penalty strike, the wood delivery obligation imposed on Schlägl Monastery until 1819, which in the meantime no longer covered the cutting and delivery costs, became a lucrative business for Joseph II von Schwarzenberg; the fathom price in Haslach had risen to 28 guilders for hardwood and 19 guilders for softwood.

In the years 1821/1822 the canal was expanded again due to the large demand for wood. This created the New Canal, which led from the light water, partly underground, through the 419 m long Hirschbergen Tunnel to Hirschbergen, so that the entire canal was 52 km in length. The canal received around 87 bridges and was fed from 22 streams during the wood flooding, which were blocked by sluices and directed into the canal.

The Schwarzenberg canal in 2005

In the second half of the 19th century, the need for firewood fell, and coal from Silesia arrived with the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway to Vienna . Instead, the need for logs increased, for which the canal in the area of ​​the Große Mühl was not suitable because of numerous weirs and mills. Therefore, a 22 km long section in Bohemia was rebuilt so that whole trunks could now be rafted to the Vltava . To this end, between 1887 and 1888 the 3.8 kilometer long “Hefenkrieger Glitsche” or “Salnauer Riese” (Novopecký smyk) was built to the Vltava near Salnau , from where a railway connection to Budweis was established until 1892 . After the construction of the Mühlkreisbahn from Linz to Aigen in 1888, the flood of wood on the Große Mühl to the Danube was reduced more and more, as the sale of firewood was hardly profitable. In 1916, logs were swept from the Rosenhügel to Haslach for the last time.

In 1927, Schlägl Abbey was granted a three-year alluvial concession for the section between the Rotbach and the Aigener Bundesstrasse. On January 1, 1935, Schlägl Abbey received the Upper Austrian canal section from the Rotbach to the Iglbach back from the Schwarzenberg Forestry Directorate Oberplan , which also ended the concession for flooding operations in the Austrian part. The Czech part between the Světlá and the Vltava near Želnava was in use until 1961.

After the Iron Curtain was erected, the Czech section that fell into the border zone was no longer open to the public from 1951, with a break from 1965 to 1974.

Today large parts of the canal in Bohemia have been restored as an architectural monument. Water still flows in the canal and there is an annual flood. The historical accompanying road is marked as a cycle path and leads through the Šumava National Park (Bohemian Forest).

course

The Schwarzenbergsche Schwemmkanal was fed with water from 27 brooks and the Plöckensteiner See . Three reservoirs were created to secure the water supply. It was washed from April to June, when the required minimum water height of 0.40 m was reached in the alluvial canal after the snowmelt in the Bohemian Forest. As far as Glöckelberg it led through the Bohemian, then through the Austrian part of the Bohemian Forest. At the Rosenhügel (Růžovský vrch) the canal at Ottenschlag (Otov), not far from Deutsch Reichenau, again crossed Bohemian territory, before moving back to Austrian territory at St. Oswald bei Haslach .

The Old Canal, consisting of the Hirschbach-Rosenhügel (32.4 km) and Zwettlbach-Große Mühl (7.5 km) sections, was 49.9 km long. The 28.3 km long Mühlschwemme between the Großer Mühl and the Danube is also added to the Old Canal.

The new canal between Lichtwasser and Hirschbach is twelve kilometers long.

The Schwarzenbergsche Schwemmkanal runs for a total of 51.9 kilometers, including the Mühlschwemme it is 80.2 kilometers.

literature

  • Česká lesnická společnost: Schwarzenberský plavební kanál 200 let od svého založení. Základní pobočka ČSVTS VLS Horní Planá, Horní Planá 1989, ISBN 80-02-99453-1 (Festschrift).
  • Erhard Fritsch: The Schwarzenberg Alluvial Canal through the ages. In: Communications from the State Association for Speleology in Upper Austria. Volume 39, No. 1, 1993, pp. 43-74 ( digital version (PDF; 16.78 MB) ).
  • Walter Kogler (ed.): The Schwarzenbergsche Schwemmkanal. W. Kogler, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-9500254-0-5 .
  • Fritz Lange: From Bohemia to Vienna. The Schwarzenbergische Schwemmkanal (= The series archive images. ) Sutton, Erfurt 2004, ISBN 3-89702-723-2 .
  • Carl Ernst Mayer: Description of the large alluvial institution on the Krummau rule in Bohemia. With 2 plans and 8 lithographed views. Sollinger, Vienna 1831 (special reprint from: Allgemeine Österreichische Zeitschrift für den Landwirth, Forstmann und Gärtner. Volume 2, 1830, ZDB -ID 965303-x ; digitized version ).
  • Paul Praxl : "He opened up the blessings of his homeland ..." Josef Rosenauer and the Viennese flood canal. In: Paul Praxl: The Dreiländerberg. Borderland Bavaria - Bohemia - Austria. Morsak, Grafenau 1979, ISBN 3-87553-110-8 , pp. 101-116.
  • Jiří Záloha: On the history of timber exports from Bohemia to Austria in the 2nd half of the 19th century (Viennese or Schwarzenberg canal). In: Yearbook of the Upper Austrian Museum Association. 1: Treatises. Volume 120, 1975, ZDB -ID 553321-1 , pp. 257-269, online (PDF; 1.3 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.

Web links

Commons : Schwarzenbergscher Schwemmkanal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Description of the large alluvial establishment on the Krummau rule in Böhmen, Vienna 1831, pp. 49–51.

Coordinates: 48 ° 38 ′ 20.8 "  N , 14 ° 2 ′ 53.8"  E