Silver lakes (Haltern am See)

The silver lakes are a lake network in Haltern am See on the city limits of Dülmen . The four lakes were created in 1924 through quartz sand extraction by the Quarzwerke Group and today are around 200 hectares in size. Although often referred to as the bathtub of the Ruhr area , the lakes are in the Münsterland .

history

The Schmaloer Heide consisted of bog and heather areas and densely planted pine trees. In 1883 entrepreneurs from Dülmen built a steam brickworks in the Werningsheide near Hausdülmen . Since the clay supply was quickly exhausted, the quarrying of the quartz sands below began. On December 7, 1886, the first sand from the Mesem sand pit near Hausdülmen was transported to Haltern by its own train.

During the First World War, there was a prisoner-of-war camp near Hausdülmen , the Dülmen camp . Construction of the camp for 10,000 prisoners began at the end of 1914. The camp was dissolved in 1918 and served as a returnees camp for German soldiers from 1919 to spring 1921. In the course of the expansion of the lake, the remaining traces of the prisoner-of-war camp had to make way. The commandant's house is still preserved from the camp and is now used as a residential building. The camp's cemetery was relocated to its present Friedensallee location in 1965 . About 600 deceased prisoners of war from Russia and Romania rest on it .

Silver Lake I

The Silbersee I has a water surface of around 24 hectares. In addition to quarrying quartz sand, it served as a bathing lake until 2004, although it was not approved as such in the 1980s. This often led to conflicts with the operator and, because of the cars parked on the L 551, also with the police.

Silbersee II

The use of the Silbersee II was split in two from 2005 to 2012. On the one hand, quartz sand was extracted here until 2012 and, on the other hand, it is open to swimming in the southern part. Sanitary facilities, the quicksand gastronomy and the security facilities of the DLRG Haltern complete the offer.

The Silbersee II is used as a bathing area by guests from the northern Ruhr area (here in particular from the Recklinghausen and Gelsenkirchen districts ) as well as from the Münsterland . It has an 800-meter-long beach that was washed up especially and has up to 15,000 bathers daily in high season. The back part of the beach is used for nudism .

In 2005, the specially founded operating company Silbersee II Haltern am See GmbH took over the sponsorship. The use of the beach at Silbersee II and the parking spaces are chargeable.

The diving permit issued in 2007 has been suspended since 2009 due to a landslide because the water was too clouded. Clarification of the water is difficult due to the continuous dredging operation.

Surfing on this lake was approved in 2008.

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Panorama Silbersee II

Silbersee III

The Silbersee III is designated as a nature reserve. A path that is often frequented by joggers and cyclists circles it. Not far away is the 64 meter high Vogelsberg. It is located east of Münsterstrasse.