A while ago, I visited the Nassenwieser Teich for the first Time. But since there was a lot of Snow and I had only brought my Sneakers, I did not stay there for very long.
Today, I returned to the Teich with my Wellies to explore a little more. I ended up only walking across the Dam, but I still learned a little about the Teich. For example that its Water was channeled into the Pfauenteiche alongside the Buntenbocker Teiche.
Lately, I have a Major Obsession with Finding and Documenting all of the Oberharzer Teiche I possibly can.
At the Nassenwieser Teich, I found out that it actually had multiple Striegel to let out the Water, one at the Ground and one at a higher Level. The Grundablass was used to funnel Water into the Buntenbocker Teiche and was able to completely drain the Teich of all Water.
The other Striegel was used to draw Water at a Depth of about 3.5 Metres. It was built because the Grundablass was too low to be able to send Water into the Unterer Pfauenteich where it was needed. That Way, only a Part of the Water was available for that other Teich, but a little is usually better than nothing.
I also found out that the Nassenwieser Teich was built around 1671, and that there once also was an Unterer Nassenwieser Teich. But that one is Aufgelassen, which means that it does not exist anymore.
In the Harz, it is not unusual to have multiple Teiche chained behind each other to be able to store more Water without having to build insanely huge Dams. With multiple Teiche at different Levels it is also easier to catch and distribute Water.
And Water was essential for the Oberharzer Mining Industry, it was used to Power pretty much everything before the Advent of powerful Electric Equipment after all.
Off Course, both Teich and Graben have lost their Purpose a long Time ago when the Mines around Clausthal-Zellerfeld where closed down one after the other.
The Kehrzuggraben that also runs along the Nassenwieser Teich and joins the Nassenwieser Graben there pretty much only still exists in Ruins, it had been given up long before the Mines and had been used to collect Surface Water from the Ziegenberg before that.
Nowadays, you can still go Hiking along the Teiche and Gräben in the Area, but that is pretty much all that they are still good for. It is extremely beautiful there though.
Finding Teiche in the Oberharz and learning about their former Purpose and Heritage is a lot of Fun. I always knew that there were a lot of Teiche, especially around Clausthal and Buntenbock, and I also knew that they were once used for the Mining Operations conducted in the Area.
But I had no Idea how interconnected those Teiche actually are and how Integral they were to the Oberharz, not only to the Mines but also for regular People.
It is really awesome that a lot of those Teiche and corresponding Gräben and Stollen still exist. I love it how that Heritage is still preserved and in some Cases even still used for Drinking Water.
Robin Ho Fotos 