In May 1883 Chemnitz exceeded the population of 100,000 and became the 15th major city in Germany. The city's drinking water supply was provided by a waterworks built between 1872 and 1874, which, however, could no longer meet the increasing demand for water in the growing city. An expansion of capacity was no longer possible due to limited terrain and increasing pollution of the Zwönitz , so that water extraction had to be switched from groundwater to surface water. The municipal administration of Einsiedel , located below the planned dam wall, had unsuccessfully appealed against the dam location in the Stadtguttal, under the impression that the South Fork dam broke in 1889, with around 2,200 dead. Between November 7, 1890 (laying of the foundation stone) and June 14, 1894 (inauguration), the oldest drinking water dam in Saxony was built, which is also the third oldest in Germany after the Eschbachtalsperre and the Panzertalsperre . The construction costs amounted to 1.3 million marks, on average 142 workers were employed in the construction. For water treatment, a waterworks was built underneath the dam, which channeled the treated water through a 3.3 km long tunnel into the Chemnitz water supply network. At the time of commissioning, the Einsiedel dam was considered a technical masterpiece. She was awarded at the world exhibitions in Paris (1900) and St. Louis (1904) . The dam of the Einsiedel dam is a curved gravity dam made of quarry stone masonry, partly according to the Intze principle , but has no Intze wedge, no retaining wall drainage and also no protective cover on the water side (facing). It is a "large dam" according to ICOLD criteria. The dammed body of water is the Stadtguttalbach , there is also a transition from the Neunzehnhain I dam. The dam is used to produce drinking water, so swimming, fishing, recreational sports etc. are not possible in the reservoir. The dam is only used to a limited extent for flood protection .
