Seeklause in Steeg
The Seeklause in Steeg ( Bad Goisern am Hallstättersee ) is a dam built at the beginning of the 16th century that can be used to regulate the water level of Lake Hallstatt . The Seeklause is the oldest technical monument of Upper Austria's Salzkammergut region , which is still at the beginning of the 21st century in operation, is, together with Klaus keeper's house listed building and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut .
Building history
Until the Steeger Seeklause was installed in the first half of the 16th century, shipping the salt on the upper Traun was extremely difficult due to its unstable water flow. Shipping often had to be suspended, which seriously disrupted the distribution of salt.
Using the cell made it possible to regulate the water level of the Traun and both the Naufahrt (the trip down river) of the salt barges and timber rafting and the necessary water depth to provide for counter-moves (the trip upriver). The dating of the first predecessor building of the Seeklause, given in many places as 1511, has not yet been proven on the basis of primary sources.
The existence of the Seeklause is documented for the year 1523. A major renovation, the elevation of the hermitage, took place between 1564 and 1573 under the direction of Hallstatt master wood, Klaus, Wühr and forestry master Thomas Seeauer (born around 1500, died 1586/87), whereby the shape that has been preserved to this day was essentially determined. In 2002 an automatic gate was installed.
Building description
The Seeklause consists of two separate buildings, the actual hermitage and the cushion, a barrier 40 m downstream. The bridge over the Traun, which was renewed in 1997, leads between these two components.
Overview
The actual hermitage consists of twelve wooden boxes filled with stones, the hermitage, which stand in a row across the lake outflow. The eleven openings between the klaus tubes can be closed by gates that can be rotated around vertical axes. These axes of rotation do not coincide with the axes of symmetry of the gates, which are thus self-regulating in the direction of flow of the water. In order to relieve the water pressure from the cave gates when closed, the cushion, a slightly lower intermediate damming, was created below the cave.
hermitage
The 110.23 m long structure, founded on wooden piles, is only used today to secure certain water levels in Lake Hallstatt and the Traun , whereby the lake level can be raised by up to one meter. Each Klausstube consists of four wooden enclosing walls, three of which are sheet piling. These piles, driven into the ground, have cross-sectional areas of 12 × 18 cm and protrude 1.5 over the river bed. The fourth wall facing the lake is closed by horizontally positioned posts. The outer dimensions of the twelve Klaus tubers vary between 7.40 × 2.90 m and 3.10 × 2.90 m, with the one connecting to the right bank even being 11.15 m long.
Claustors
The rotating claw gates are held in the closed state by a wooden stick, the gate spreader. In order to open the hermitage, this wooden stick is knocked out, whereby the outflow from Lake Hallstatt can be increased by up to 35 m³ per second. When you hit all the claw gates, which can be done by one person within 15 minutes, a torrent of water is created, which wanders down the Traun and which is known as Klausschlag or just Klaus. Depending on the number of open claw gates, it is possible to increase the Traun water level by up to half a meter in Bad Ischl or by up to 35 cm in Ebensee .
pad
The cushion consists of the dock tree lying horizontally in the river bed, a square timber with a cross-sectional area of 28 × 40 cm, and the docks inserted in it at an angle of two meters from each other . These round timbers with a diameter of about 15 cm and a length of 2 m are pointed at the free end like a handle and are each splayed by an inclined support located downstream. In order to raise the water level behind the hermitage, horizontal boards lying across the river are pushed against the dock.
Monument value
The Seeklause in Steeg, preserved in its original construction, can be referred to as the largest historical facility of its kind and is one of the oldest technical monuments in Upper Austria . This monument testifies to how much the early modern salt industry intervened in the natural area and made its resources usable.
Comparative examples
- Gößl , Toplitzseeklause
- Grundlsee , Grundlseer Seeklause, demolished in 1978
- Königssee (Berchtesgaden), Seeklause on the Königssee
Web links
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- Hofkammerarchiv Vienna, Altes Bancale, red number 286, old listing number 9693, Jan. 1751, report by Quiex fol. 36.
- F. Hafner: Construction and use of Trift clauses in Austria from the 13th century to the abandonment of the Trift in the 20th century. In: Blätter für Technikgeschichte. 39./40. Heft, 1980, p. 48f.
- Alfred Hoffmann: Thomas Seeauer, "the old man". In: The Heimatgau . 3rd year, Linz 1941/42, pp. 90-107, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
- Ernst Neweklowsky: The shipping and rafting in the area of the upper Danube. Linz 1952, Volume 1, pp. 477f.
- Franz Rosenauer: The Seeklause on Lake Hallstatt in Steeg. In: Heimatgaue . Journal for Upper Austrian history, regional and folklore. 15th year, Linz 1934, pages 128-137, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
- Carl Schraml: The way of the salt from Hallstatt to Linz. In: Leaves for the history of technology. First issue, 1932, p. 160.
- Carl Schraml: The Upper Austrian saltworks from the beginning of the 16th to the middle of the 18th century. Vienna 1932, p. 245.
- http://www.idam.at/Startseite/downloads/
Coordinates: 47 ° 36 ′ 40.5 " N , 13 ° 37 ′ 56.6" E