Cranzahl Dam () is a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

in the

Free State of Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

in East Germany. It was built from 1949 to 1952 near

Sehmatal Sehmatal is a municipality in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany, which was created in 1999 through the union of ''Neudorf'', ''Cranzahl'' and ''Sehma''. The three villages are located along the Sehma river, aligned in a north-so ...

–

Cranzahl Sehmatal is a municipality in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany, which was created in 1999 through the union of ''Neudorf'', ''Cranzahl'' and ''Sehma''. The three villages are located along the Sehma river, aligned in a north-so ...

and the

Bärenstein Bärenstein is a municipality in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. History From 1952 to 1990, Bärenstein was part of the Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt of East Germany. References

Erzgebirgskreis {{Erzgebirgskreis-geo ...

mountain in the

Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...

to supply drinking water to

Annaberg-Buchholz Annaberg-Buchholz () is a town in Saxony, in eastern Germany. Lying in the Ore Mountains, it is the capital of the district of Erzgebirgskreis. Geography The town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the ''Pöhlberg'' ( above sea le ...

and the surrounding area. Together with the Sosa Dam it was one of the two biggest dam construction projects of the newly created

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

. In keeping with the time it was called the Dam of Friendship (''Talsperre der Freundschaft''). The actual dam itself is a crooked

earth-fill dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

with a sloping inner seal of

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

. It is a large dam based on ICOLD criteria. The streams impounded by it are the Lampertsbach and the Moritzbach. A trafficable track runs along the dam crest (500 metres). Bathing and water sports in the reservoir are not permitted. However, there is a circular path of 3.5 kilometres for walkers, mountain-bikers and skiers.

External links

Information by the State Reservoir Administration
{{Authority control Dams completed in 1952 Dams in Saxony RCranzahl Sehmatal

See also

External links