Water shelf

This article describes the water-related sovereignty, for the water management systems see Upper Harz water shelf and Unterharz water shelf .

Water shelf (“shelf” from Latin rex, regis “king”, in the sense of “royal sovereignty”) denotes a sovereign right to the state or head of state over water and its use.

In the Middle Ages, traffic on the waterways was subject to high tariffs. There were also numerous regulations on the use of water and the navigation of rivers and canals. These regulations, as well as the obligation to pay, were called the water shelf.

The water shelf existed as a customs law in the area of river navigation and as a right to use water in the context of mountain freedoms . An example of such a water shelf is explained in more detail in the article Oberharzer Wasserregal .

See also

• Regalia

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hugo Haase : Engineering structures of old water management in the Upper Harz . 5th edition. Pieper, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1985, ISBN 3-923605-42-0 .
2. ↑ Martin Schmidt , Die Wasserwirtschaft des Oberharzer Bergbau (= series of publications by the Frontinus Society, issue 13, 3rd edition). Self-published by Harzwasserwerke, Hildesheim 2002, ISBN 3-00-009609-4 .