The best cycling routes around Großer Goitzschesee

View from the dam wall onto the reservoir

The barrier structure near Friedersdorf is a 19 m high and 303 m long gravity dam with a construction volume of 40,000 m³. On February 17, 2023, a hydropower plant was commissioned, which is expected to generate 13.6 GWh of electrical energy per year. The construction cost 25 million euros and began in October 2016.[1] Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muldestausee

The normal water level is around 79 m above sea level with a storage volume of approx. 115 million m³. The role of the Muldestausee as a flood retention basin is insignificant. However, the basin can temporarily retain 3 million m³ during floods (difference between total storage and usable storage). In fact, it is not a reservoir in the true sense, but rather a river dam. Since the flow velocity of the Mulde slows down considerably upon entering the lake, the Muldestausee acts as a sedimentation trap, into which approx. 400,000 t of solids (gravel, sand, silt) are deposited annually. These solids are missing from the river upon exiting the outlet structure, leading to a greater deepening of the riverbed of the lower Mulde and having ecological consequences. Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muldestausee

After the excavation of coal from the Muldenstein open-cast mine (1954–1975), the relocation of the Mulde river over a distance of approximately eleven kilometers was necessary to expand the Goitzsche open-cast mine (today's Großer Goitzschesee). Part of the new river course was laid through the excavated Muldenstein open-cast mine. Flooding took place from April 30, 1975, to March 1, 1976. The Muldestausee lake has an inlet and an outlet structure. Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muldestausee

The Muldestausee is an flooded open-cast mine in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld/Sachsen-Anhalt. Its bordering towns are Friedersdorf, Schlaitz, Pouch and Mühlbeck. With a surface area of 6.3 km², it is the third largest body of water in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its length is approx. 9 km, its widest point is 2 km, and its greatest depth is 35 m Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muldestausee

The village of Seelhausen was buried in 1987 during the expansion of the Goitzsche open-cast mine. The Seelhausen Lake was created by flooding the remaining open-cast mine pit. It lies west of Löbnitz, south of Bitterfeld, and north of Delitzsch, in the Central German Lake District. From the end of July 2000, the lake was filled with water from the Mulde River via a pipeline at a rate of 1 m³/s[1] until the pipeline was destroyed by the Elbe River flood in 2002. Since then, the lake has been fed by the Lober-Leine Canal. According to the LMBV (Lausitz and Central German Mining Company), 96% of the planned water level had been reached by March 2004. The flooding work was completed in 2005.[1] A beach area has since been built at the flooding site, and further development of the lake as a recreational area is planned. The larger Goitzsche Lake lies northwest of the Seelhausen Lake. The lake district also includes Lake Paupitzsch, Lake Holzweißig, Lake Ludwig, Lake Neuhaus, and Lake Zöckeritz with Essigloch and Lake Auensee. The total surface area of all lakes in the former Goitzsche open-cast mine is estimated at 24 square kilometers. Lake Seelhausen is a former open-cast mine lake with a water level of 78 meters above sea level. Its storage capacity is 74 million cubic meters, with a surface area of 622 hectares. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seelhausener_See

Lake Seelhausen is a former open-cast mining lake of approximately 622 hectares, formed from the former Rösa lignite mine (part of the Goitzsche). It lies mostly in the German state of Saxony and partly in Saxony-Anhalt. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seelhausener_See

Great view from the bridge