Gustavsee

Gustavsee
The Gustavsee in 2014
Geographical location	Aschaffenburg district , Bavaria
Data
Coordinates	50 ° 3 '17 "  N , 8 ° 59' 27"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 3 '17 "  N , 8 ° 59' 27"  E
surface	25.2 ha
length	840 m
width	430 m
scope	2.2 km
Maximum depth	30 m
Middle deep	15 m
particularities	Nature reserve

The Gustavsee is under nature conservation standing lake in the Lower Franconian municipality Karlstein am Main ( Aschaffenburg ). It is located almost at the westernmost point of Bavaria and arose from the Gustav colliery , which filled with groundwater after it was closed. Today the Gustavsee is one of the most important resting and wintering places for waterfowl in northern Bavaria .

geography

location

The lake is located in the Vor Spessart within a loop of the Main on the district of Großwelzheim . Seligenstadt is on the opposite bank of the Main in Hesse . The Gustavsee belongs to the Kahler Seenplatte , has a water surface of a good 25  hectares and is at its deepest point over 30 m deep. It is a pure groundwater lake with no inflow of surface water .

The former Kahl experimental nuclear power plant, Germany's first nuclear power plant, and the Großwelzheim experimental nuclear power plant until 1998 , stood directly on the north-west bank of the Gustavsee . To the south was the Karlstein research reactor .

history

Gustav colliery

Gustav Müller, the director of a lignite union, carried out a few test drillings on the Bavarian Main side in 1882. Then he let the first small pits and 1902, the mine Gustav I to reduce lignite build. It was created where the Kimmelsteich settlement is today. As is customary in mining, the courage received Müller's first name. In 1903 the Dettingen power station was completed and operated in combination with a briquette factory near the mine . Railway tracks were laid from the edge of the pit to the train station in Dettingen . In 1907 the first steam locomotive drove there .

The Kipp, the former overburden from the Gustav colliery

The open-cast mines Gustav II and III followed on the site of today's Gustavsee. Over the years, many men from the surrounding villages have found jobs in the mine. The overburden from the former mines was piled up on a hill nearby. Over the decades a forest of pine, beech and oak has developed on it. This elevation is called the Große Halde or Kipp . The western part of the nearby Long Lake was filled in. Pumps sucked the converging groundwater out of the pits and forced it to the surface through pipes. This water then found its way through a ditch into the Main .

On February 8, 1909, the Main had severe flooding , which also reached the Gustav II and III pits. 250 workers called for help and firefighters built a 200 m long dam; nevertheless they could not prevent the water from entering the mine. On March 10, 1914, another flood on the Main broke a protective dam and the mine filled up again with water. 2.5 million cubic meters of water penetrated. During this disaster, the Main had sunk so much that a ship lying near Seligenstadt ran aground. It was only in the late autumn of the year that the full pit could be drained again with a large number of additional electric pumps. On January 12, 1915, the Main broke through the embankment again during a strong flood and this time flooded the Gustav I.

In 1925, operations in the Gustav II and III pits were stopped and the pumps switched off. The almost 40 m deep opencast mine gradually filled with groundwater and the Gustavsee was created.

Gustavsee bird sanctuary

Gustavsee

The 18.2 ha large bird sanctuary Gustavsee (NSG-00382.01) occupies the southeastern lake area and the western shore zone of the Gustavsee. It is considered to be one of the ornithologically most important resting and wintering areas for waterfowl in northern Bavaria. Due to its considerable water depth, the Gustavsee rarely freezes over in winter. This fact provides a source of food for the wintering birds.

In 1957 the Gustavsee was completely fenced in to ensure nature conservation. The State Office for the Environment proposed Lake Gustavsee as a bird sanctuary in 1978 .

Flora and fauna

The great crested grebe , little bittern , kingfisher , wryneck , sand martin , turtledove , red backed killer and cormorant live in the Gustavsee bird sanctuary . The lake is surrounded by a belt of vegetation made up of reeds , pines , alders , mountain ash , hazel bushes , poplars and willow bushes. The common toad , the pond newt and the water frog spawn in the water .

See also

• List of nature reserves in the Aschaffenburg district
• List of lakes in the Spessart
• List of lakes in Bavaria

literature

• Our Kahlgrund 1980 and 1999 . Homeland yearbook for the Alzenau district. Published by the working group for homeland research and homeland maintenance of the Alzenau district, district administrator. ISSN  0933-1328 .

Web links

Commons : Gustavsee  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Location of the Gustavsee on the BayernAtlas

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bavaria Atlas of the Bavarian State Government ( notes )
2. ^ Gerhard Nees & Hermann Kehrer: Alzenauer Wetterchronik . The most interesting weather events in Alzenau, in the Kahlgrund and on the Untermain from 365 to 1999. Reinhold Keim Verlag, Großkrotzenburg 2002, ISBN 3-921535-51-4 .