Upper Harz Water Management System –
107 ponds and 340 kilometres of ditches and water tunnels
Ponds, ditches and water tunnels are spread across the picturesque landscape of the Upper Harz. They are the visible components of the Upper Harz Water Management System, which was created between the 16th and 19th centuries. The ponds once served as energy storage and supplied the water to drive the water wheels that once hoisted the ore from the ground and powered the pumps in the mines, and which was later also used for transporting people underground.
The Upper Harz Water Management System, part of the World Heritage in the Harz, today includes 310 kilometres of water transport ditches and 30 kilometres of water tunnels. Of the 107 ponds that still exist, 63 are still in use for energy supply, as flood protection, as drinking water storage or as recreational bathing ponds.
The Upper Harz Water Management System also includes other important historic buildings and installations both above and below ground such as the mediaeval Walkenried Monastery, whose monks were skilled water engineers and from the second half of the 12th century were part-owners of the mining operations on the Rammelsberg, the Samson Mine in St. Andreasberg, the 19-Lachter-Stollen water drainage gallery in Wildemann, the installations at the Knesebeck Shaft in Bad Grund as well as those of the Ottiliae and Kaiser Wilhelm II Shafts in Clausthal-Zellerfeld.
Upper Harz Water management system eplanation movie
Our colleagues from the Harz Tourist Association developed this interesting explanatory film on the Upper Harz water management system. (German Audio)
CONTACT
Upper Harz Mining Museum
Bornhardtstr. 16
38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld
Tel. +49 5323-98950
info@bergwerksmuseum.de
www.bergwerksmuseum.de