Black Forest water power

 

Lake Schluchsee near the community of the same name is a popular destination for tourists, as it offers ample opportunities for swimming and sailing. It is located at 930 meters above sea level and its deepest point measures sixty-one meters. It is 7.5 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide. Thus, it is the largest lake in the Black Forest. To the west of it, there are two high mountains to admire, the Schnepfhalde, which is 1,282 meters high, and the Habsberg with 1,274 meters. You can hike the entire shore once on a circular path.

 

In its present form, lake Schluchsee has only existed since 1932, when a 63-meter-high dam was built to raise the level of the lake for the use of hydroelectric power plants. The Schwarza stream, one of the inflows, was dammed until the water level had risen by thirty meters. Since then, lake Schluchsee has been Germany's highest reservoir. However, quite a few residents had to leave their homes forever for its elevation, as the shore areas were flooded. Even an old post road and a school building disappeared in the water.

 

Today, electricity is generated with a capacity of about 520 million kilowatt hours per year. The main part of the entire power plant complex is underground. Water flows from the lake Schluchsee through three power plant stages in the direction of the Rhine, falling a total of more than 610 meters and covering a distance of about 25 kilometers. In order to supply the Schluchsee with sufficient water, this is pumped up from the Rhine in the other direction. In addition, part of the water is tapped from the upper course of the river Wutach, the Seebach.

 

Since the water supplied from the Rhine is mostly warmer than that of the Schwarza, lake Schluchsee rarely freezes over in winter, and when it does, the ice is quite brittle. Ice skating is therefore not possible.

 

Since the water level of the Schluchsee has to be reduced occasionally, for example to carry out maintenance work on the power plant complex, there is often discord between the power plant operators and the tourist industry, which would like to keep the level of the lake constant so that swimming and sailing can continue. Besides, the drained shores don't look very nice.

 

Not far from the dam wall is the village of Seebrugg, which is the terminus of the Dreiseenbahn railroad. There is a diving station, from where you can make dives in the lake.

If you want to enjoy a beautiful view of lake Schluchsee during a visit, you can do so from the approximately thirty meter high Riesenbühlturm, which is a tower located not far from the village of Schluchsee. If you prefer tobogganing, you can do that in the Rodel-und-Sapßpark, by the way, also in summer. In Schluchsee there furthermore is the "flower path", where you can admire various works of art made of flowers.