Lower Harz pond and ditch system
In the Lower Harz (in the area of the Harz and Mansfeld-Südharz districts ) there are many traces of water management from the times of mining and metallurgy. In addition to water-bearing ditches and ponds, there are also long-abandoned ditches and dry ponds: the Unterharzer pond and ditch system . Its only historically grown and related part, the Lower Harz Water Shelf , is located in the middle Lower Harz, almost entirely in the area of today's town of Harzgerode . The article essentially describes this part of the Lower Harz pond and ditch system.
Scope and extent
In the middle Lower Harz between Neudorf , Silberhütte , Straßberg , Großem Auerberg and Oberer Lude, there is the only historically developed mining water management system of the Lower Harz. Due to the geographic and climatic conditions of the Lower Harz ( leeward side ), the system never reached the size of comparable systems in the Upper Harz and Ore Mountains. The cut river catchment areas are primarily the headwaters and upper reaches of small mountain streams. Parts of the facilities can be dated back to the year 1320. For this system of ditches , roses and ponds , the name Unterharzer Pond and Trench System was imprinted, which is more precise than the older name of the Straßberger Pond and Trench System .
There were around 300 ponds in the entire Lower Harz. Of these, 36 were larger mining ponds with a total storage capacity of 2.6 million m³. The ponds in the catchment area of the Silberhütter Kunstgraben had about 40% of the storage capacity of all Unterharzer ponds. There were 25 ponds here, most of which are still covered today. Today they serve partly as drinking water reservoirs .
All parts of the mining water management, no matter in which condition, were placed under protection as area monuments in 1991 . The term Unterharzer pond and ditch system , which has been in use for the system of the middle Lower Harz since 1976 at the latest, was extended to the entire Anhalt Harz region by the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology . Some time later, the term Unterharzer Wasserregal was coined for the historically related part in the middle Lower Harz .
history
prehistory
Mining in the Straßberger Revier existed since at least 1438, possibly also since 1279. The first smelting works for silver is documented for the period from 1511 to 1566. The first water management systems in the Rödelbachtal can be found from this time. Already in the second half of the 16th century the ore deposits near the surface were exhausted and mining largely came to a standstill. In the Thirty Years' War mining was then completely.
At that time, the water management of the Straßberger Revier was still at the level of the year 1610. In addition to the Rödelbachgraben , the village frogs existed between Rödelbachgraben and Flüsse . There were also two ponds, the Gräfingründer pond and the Lower Kiliansteich .
1693-1755
It was not until 1663 that new trade unions were formed and some pits were encouraged. Another seven years passed before silver ore was extracted again.
In 1701 Georg Christoff von Utterodt , coming from Ilmenau , took over the post of the Strassberg miner . He united all the mines to a "large union" with 1024 Kuxen . Now, under Utterodt's leadership, the main pits, Blessing God , God's Help , God Will Help , Trust in God (later renamed Grube Glasebach ), as well as the neighboring corridors and the pits at Hayn and Schwenda were operated . There were also driving, art and conveyor shafts. From 1703 to 1704 Utterodt had the Schindelbruch artificial moat built from the Gräfingründer pond to the lazy puddle pond . By 1707, six artificial ponds with a total of approx. 380,000 m³ of storage space as well as two further artificial trenches were added. The shingle Brücher Kunstgraben could all Straßberger supply ponds with water after installation and is the oldest Kunstgraben the Lower Harz Pond and grave system . He also had the Hüttenstollen from Selketal ahead from the mine water pits Getreuer Bergmann , God helps certainly , Good luck and Zum Schwarzen Hirsch to solve . Under the leadership of Utterodts, the Straßberger Revier became the most important mining area in the Harz from 1704. The union's financing problems that occurred from 1707 onwards were resolved in 1708 at the Straßberger Trades Day under the leadership of Johann Jeremias Gründler (1681–1753) and Jakob Waitz . Around 1709, Utterodt's activity in Straßberg ended.
Christian Zacharias Koch took over the post of mine director in Straßberg in 1712. There he continued the work of Georg Christoff von Utterodt and further developed mining and water management in the style of Upper Harz mining. Under his leadership, u. a. the two largest ponds of the Lower Harz with a total storage volume of around 800,000 m³: Glasebacher pond (1716) and Frankenteich (1724). He had the Schindelbruch artificial ditch extended into the catchment area of the rivers Lude and Thyra . Due to the resistance of the citizens of Stolberg , construction was initially carried out without the permission of the Count and completed between 1726 and 1736, except for the Ludenrösche (connecting piece to the Schindelbruch artificial ditch). The Rösche could only be opened in 1745 and thus the Lower Harz pond and ditch system could be completed. He finished his work in 1755, which also marked the end of the most important operating phase of the Straßberg silver ore mining.
1756-1910
The Seven Years' War , the following personal and financial problems and the frauds of the mountain council von Gärtner (1769 to 1781 active in Straßberg) led to the decline of the Straßberg mining industry. This was accompanied by the extension of the Kochs-Graben into the Neudorf area in order to supply the mines there with impact water. Mining ended in 1903. The trench to Neudorf was closed and a new section was built in Teufelsgrund, the Siebengründer Graben .
1911-1939
The ditch from the Teufelsteich was used to generate electricity in Silberhütte until 1939 . Then, after more than 300 years, the end of the Lower Harz pond and ditch system was sealed.
Current condition
The Unterharzer pond and ditch system was placed under protection as an area monument in 1991 .
At the same time, due to official ignorance and the rigorous forestry privatized in Saxony-Anhalt, essential parts of it were destroyed. This makes hikes difficult, even along the main trenches, and most ponds slowly deteriorate.
According to the Saxony-Anhalt Water Act, all dams with more than 100,000 m³ of storage space and more than 5 meter high barriers are considered to be dams and must be monitored by the authorities (by the Saxony-Anhalt dam company ). This also includes seven of the ponds that are still covered, some of which have been renovated and are in a correspondingly good condition. Some of them serve to supply drinking water. According to its own statement, the Saxony-Anhalt dam company manages "with great emphasis and commitment these impressive monuments of hydraulic engineering, which are an eloquent testimony to the ingenuity and skills of the earlier hydraulic engineers in the Lower Harz."
Some ponds and ditches are signposted along the educational mining trails, primarily through mining firs .
Ponds
Essentially, the 24 reservoirs are located in the mining districts of Straßberg , Silberhütte and Neudorf .
See also
- List of the trenches of the Unterharzer pond and trench system
- List of ponds of the Unterharzer pond and ditch system
- Upper Harz water shelf
- Revierwasserlaufanstalt Freiberg
swell
- Development and current function of systems of historical mining water management in the Lower Harz . In: Wilfried Strenz, Working Group Historical Geography of the Geographical Society of the GDR (ed.): Historical-geographical research in the GDR . Hermann Haack Geographisch-Kartographische Anstalt, Gotha 1986, ISBN 3-7301-0803-4 .
- Wilfried Ließmann: Historical mining in the Harz . 3. Edition. Springer, Berlin 1997, ISBN 978-3-540-31327-4 .
- The Lower Harz pond and ditch system
Individual evidence
- ↑ R. Lähne & D. Bednorz: The little detour - Unterharzer water shelf . In: Groundwater - Journal of the Hydrogeology Section . No. 16 , 2011, p. 57-58 , doi : 10.1007 / s00767-011-0160-2 .
- ↑ Development and current function of systems of historical mining water management in the Lower Harz . In: Wilfried Strenz, Working Group Historical Geography of the Geographical Society of the GDR (ed.): Historical-geographical research in the GDR . Hermann Haack Geographisch-Kartographische Anstalt, Gotha 1986, ISBN 3-7301-0803-4 .
- ↑ a b Wilfried Ließmann: Historical mining in the Harz , page 324
- ↑ When adding the Elbingstalteich pond 26.
- ↑ Straßberger Trades Day
- ↑ Robert Wohlers, Dams in Saxony-Anhalt, published by the Saxony-Anhalt dam operation 2010, page 44
