Wasgau lake

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wasgausee (also Wasgau Lake ) was the name of an operated from 1967 to 1987 project for the construction of a tourist-oriented dam on Saarbach east of the village Fischbach bei Dahn . The Königsbruch nature reserve now forms part of the areas intended for the lake .

history

The Planning Authority Westpfalz recommended in 1967 the system of Wasgausees to the structurally weak Südwestpfalz to create jobs in tourism, possibly at the instigation of Helmut Kohl , then leader of the CDU in the state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate . Facilities for up to 7,500 visitors were planned, including bathing beaches, sunbathing lawns, campsites, gastronomic facilities and accommodation providers as well as other additional tourist offers and infrastructural facilities. After a planning study was available in 1970, the district council of the Pirmasens district declared its willingness to partially assume the costs. In 1973 the district of Pirmasens, the city of Pirmasens and the Dahn community founded the “ Zweckverband Wasgausee”, which was supposed to implement the project. He tried to acquire the land needed for the lake, for which a land consolidation procedure was initiated in 1977 . A cost estimate from this year amounted to 32 million DM from public funds, another 47 million DM should be raised by private investors. A draft for a development plan was presented in 1979. It made it possible to calculate the costs in detail, and in 1981 it was determined that 35 million DM would be required for the water supply and waste water disposal of the communities on the lake and the tourist facilities; further costs should arise from the acquisition of the land, the earthworks and the relocation of two state roads forced by the damming. In the previous year, the project had been included in the state development program of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1980 as a “focus area for further tourism development” .

The sharp rise in costs led to resistance in the population and in politics against Lake Wasgau. After a downsizing of the project was initially discussed, the Greens , who were not represented in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament, demanded that the project be abandoned as early as 1981. In addition to the problems with financing, concerns arose on the part of the nature conservation associations, who urged the preservation of the king's break. A report published in 1987 and commissioned by the State's Ministry of the Environment and Health confirmed the high ecological value of the area. The protected species identified here included the common wedge damsel and the long-winged sword insect . After the publication of this report, the FDP , which had been represented in the state government for a few months, turned away from the project in September 1987 , whereupon the state government decided to abandon the project in November.

At the end of 1988 the Königsbruch was placed under nature protection, the land was acquired in 1989 by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Wasgausee association was dissolved in 1994. In the area of ​​the planned lake, the Fischbach Biosphere House was inaugurated in 2000 , which, in addition to environmental education, also serves to promote tourism.

literature

  • Lilo Hagen: Nature, look, play! The Palatinate Forest / Northern Vosges biosphere house. A documentation about the house of future generations. Biosphere House Palatinate Forest / Northern Vosges, Fischbach near Dahn 2000. ( excerpt )
  • Josef Hastenpflug: State development through major tourist projects. Recreation and leisure park "Wasgau-See" in the Palatinate Forest. In: Innere Kolonisierung, Land und Gemeinde 1975, no. 24. pp. 270–272.
  • Hans D. Zehfuß: "The Sorgebach." The Sauer in Wasgau. In: Pollichia-Kurier 25 (2009) No. 4, pp. 41-44. ISSN  0936-9384 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ so in Hans D. Zehfuß: "Der Sorgebach." The Sauer in Wasgau. In: Pollichia-Kurier 25 (2009) No. 4, p. 41.
  2. ↑ State Chancellery Rhineland-Palatinate (Ed.) State Development Program 1980. Mainz 1980. Map 6. ( online ( memento from February 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ))

Coordinates: 49 ° 4 ′ 36.9 ″  N , 7 ° 44 ′ 32.9 ″  E