Kiliansteich
title: "Kiliansteich" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["selke-basin", "buildings-and-structures-completed-in-the-17th-century", "infrastructure-completed-in-1994", "lower-harz-pond-and-ditch-system", "reservoirs-in-saxony-anhalt"] topic_path: "general/selke-basin" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiliansteich" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox dam"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Kiliansteich |
| image | Kiliansteich 228.jpg |
| coordinates | |
| location | Landkreis Harz |
| construction_began | 1610, rebuilt 1989-1994 |
| dam_height_thalweg | 22.9 m |
| dam_height_foundation | 24.6 m |
| dam_length | 210 m |
| dam_width_crest | 4 m |
| dam_volume | 93000 m3 |
| dam_elevation_crest | 442.23 m |
| dam_crosses | Büschengraben |
| res_capacity_total | 1.26 e6m3 |
| res_capacity_active | 1.19 e6m3 |
| res_catchment | 3.9 km2 |
| res_surface | 17.3 ha |
| res_elevation | 440.5 m |
| :: |
| name = Kiliansteich | name_official = | image = Kiliansteich 228.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = | image_alt = | location_map = | location_map_size = | location_map_caption = | coordinates = | location = Landkreis Harz | status = | construction_began = 1610, rebuilt 1989-1994 | opening = | demolished = | cost = | owner = | dam_type = | dam_height = | dam_height_thalweg = 22.9 m | dam_height_foundation = 24.6 m | dam_length = 210 m | dam_width_crest = 4 m | dam_width_base = | dam_volume = 93000 m3 | dam_elevation_crest= 442.23 m | dam_crosses = Büschengraben | spillway_count = | spillway_type = | spillway_capacity = | res_name = | res_capacity_total = 1.26 e6m3 | res_capacity_active= 1.19 e6m3 | res_capacity_inactive= | res_catchment = 3.9 km2 | res_surface = 17.3 ha | res_elevation = 440.5 m | website = | extra =
The Kiliansteich (literally "St. Kilian's Pond") is one of the oldest reservoirs in Germany. The reservoir is located near Straßberg (Harz) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and supplies drinking water. It impounds the Büschengraben stream. The lake is part of the heritage area (Flächendenkmal) of the Lower Harz Pond and Ditch System.
The reservoir has a rockfill dam with a watertight clay core that sits on a shale bedrock.
History
Originally there were four small ponds in a row on the site of the present-day reservoir that had been built for the mining industry. Two of those were broken in 1901 and 1944 and all were in a poor condition. As a result, from 1989-1994 a new, higher dam was built at the site of the lowest dam; the two middle ponds were removed and the upper one, the Upper Kilian Pond (Oberer Kiliansteich), built in 1703, was upgraded into a pre-dam (Vorsperre).
Originally laid as a drinking water reservoir, the lake is used today for flood and drought protection.
The dam on the original "Lower Kilian Pond" (Unterer Kiliansteich) was about 10 m high and had a retaining capacity of 165,000 m³. During the course of renovation the old wooden bottom outlet was salvaged on 25 September 1990 as the result on an initiative by Erika and Siegfried Lorenz. Following long-term conservation work at the Harzwasserwerken in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, who paid for the cost of transports and conservation, it was returned on 19 August 2010 to Straßberg. The wooden raceway is now a museum piece in the Glasebach Pit.
Sources
Talsperren in Sachsen-Anhalt, Autorenkollegium, Hrsg. Talsperrenmeisterei des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt 1994
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