Silbersee (Nuremberg)

The Silbersee, December 2004

The Silbersee is an artificially created, highly toxic body of water in the southeast of Nuremberg . Created in 1937 as part of a large excavation pit, it served as a hazardous waste dump and, to this day, as part of the Dutzendteich Park .

history

According to Adolf Hitler's will, the huge German stadium was originally to be built here on the Nazi party rally grounds, but no more than the foundation walls were completed. The very high groundwater in the region around the Dutzendteich was initially prevented from entering the excavation pit with technical devices; however, this groundwater management was stopped in early 1945, after which the excavation pit filled with groundwater, which formed the horseshoe-shaped water surface.

In the following years until 1962, the southern part of the water, the so-called pioneer pond, was used as a rubble dump. By 1951, the pit in this part was filled to ground level with waste, hazardous waste and rubble, and work began on building the high-level landfill at Bauernfeindstrasse , which today forms the Silberbuck panoramic mountain . According to today's standards, critical hazardous waste was brought into the landfill without further precautionary measures , including warfare agents from the Second World War and waste from the pharmaceutical, mineral oil, plant protection and metal industries. Since this landfill is not sealed against the groundwater, pollutants can get into the actual Silver Lake. Garbage was also deposited in the lake itself in the early 1960s, when the Silberbuck had reached its capacity limit; however, the landfill operations were discontinued soon afterwards, so that the lake was preserved in its current form.

The silver lake today

The Silbersee 2018, view from the south

Warning signs at the Silbersee

Although the romantic, wooded landscape does not suggest it at first glance, the Silbersee is today a highly toxic body of water. The concentration of the neurotoxin hydrogen sulfide in particular poses a great danger to humans. In some corners of the Silver Lake you can clearly recognize hydrogen sulfide by its unpleasant odor of rotten eggs, even if the concentrations in the air are low enough to rule out health consequences . Bathing in the Silbersee is life-threatening and therefore strictly forbidden. Failure to observe this rule has cost the lives of around 50 people since the end of the war.

In addition, the Silbersee is still polluted by the old landfill of today's Silberbuck, from which toxic substances enter the Silbersee through seepage water .

Efforts are currently being made to expand the fair to include the Silberbucks.

Remedial measures

In 1985 an attempt was made to counteract the formation of hydrogen sulfide by aerating the lake bed. The increase in the oxygen supply should prevent the sulfate ions from being reduced to hydrogen sulfide. This initially lowered the hydrogen sulfide concentration in the deep water, but for unknown reasons it has almost returned to its original values since 1990.

A complete renovation of the site is not financially viable for the city of Nuremberg due to the size of the landfill. The landfill volume is 5.53 million m³, of which about 0.66 million m³ are below the water level. Even the required subsequent sealing of the landfill against the groundwater would be technically very complex and associated with immense costs.

Web links

Commons : Silbersee (Nuremberg) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

49.421944444444 11.110833333333Coordinates: 49 ° 25 ′ 19 ″ N , 11 ° 6 ′ 39 ″ E