Filzteich: A Medieval Mining Reservoir in Saxony
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Electorate of Saxony, German, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Infrastructure
- Remains
- Dam
On this page6 sections
History
Filzteich is an artificial reservoir in the western Ore Mountains of Saxony, Germany, extending between Schneeberg and Hartmannsdorf bei Kirchberg. Built from 1483 to 1485 under the direction of Heinrich von Starschedel, a knight and Schneeberg’s chief local official, it supplied water to machinery in the Schneeberg mines. It is the Ore Mountains’ second-oldest artificial reservoir, after Geyerscher Teich, and is described as Germany’s fifth-oldest dam. The site had previously been used for alluvial tin mining.
Breaches and rebuilding
A breach in 1573, attributed to regional flooding, caused severe damage in Zschorlau, Neudörfel, and Aue. On 4 February 1783, persistent rain and rapid snowmelt led to another failure. The dam opened to a width of more than 22.5 metres, releasing a flood wave about eight metres high toward Zschorlau and Auerhammer. In Zschorlau, four houses were swept away and more than 30 were badly damaged; several mills were destroyed. Eighteen people drowned, and damage in Zschorlau alone was estimated at 30,000 talers, a historical German monetary unit.
The flood did not reach the mines. Its force shut the door of the water house and packed earth against it, leaving 40 miners underground unharmed and allowing work in the mines to continue. The breach resulted from decay in the wooden outlet channel: soil above it had gradually crumbled away, creating a cavity within the dam. To avoid the hazards of repairing the wooden channel and reduce the risk of another disaster, the outlet was replaced with a stone system and a spillway. The work was completed in 1786. A miner living nearby supervised the reservoir, and water passing through the replacement channel was likened to thunder.
Later use and protection
In the late eighteenth century, the German writer and natural philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited Filzteich and praised its broad expanse of water amid dark-green spruce forests. Renovation in 1933 added a bathing beach and car park. The site deteriorated during the Second World War, then was rebuilt between 1953 and 1963 through the National Reconstruction Work, a state-organized public reconstruction campaign, and converted into a bathing resort. The eastern part now serves as a recreational bathing area.
Filzteich forms part of the Schneeberg Mining Landscape within the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2019. The list recognizes cultural and natural sites considered to have outstanding universal value. The western section is protected within the Heath and Moor Forest at Filzteich nature reserve and the Moor Area at Filzteich and Stockteich Fauna-Flora-Habitat area, an European Union conservation designation for habitats and species.
Remains
Reservoir and water system
The reservoir occupies marshy ground, reflected in a name derived from a word meaning ‘peat’. The Zschorlaubach, Filzbach, and Seifenbach flow into it; water leaves through the Filzbach, continues along the Zschorlaubach, and flows onward to the Mulde. Its water surface covers 23 hectares, its storage capacity is 367,000 cubic metres, and its catchment area is 5.58 square kilometres. The eastern part lies within Schneeberg, while the western part is in Hartmannsdorf bei Kirchberg, adjoining the Hartmannsdorfer Forest.
Dam and outlet works
The dam rises 4.4 metres above the valley floor and 5.6 metres above its foundation. Its crest length is given as either 240 or 470 metres. The watercourse bed is at an elevation of 544.69 metres, and the dam crest at 545.15 metres. The stone outlet system that replaced the wooden channel and vertical plug was made of granite, alongside a stone spillway. A stone bearing an inscription stands beside the channel and commemorates the 1783 breach.
