Dossespeicher Kyritz, lake in Germany
The Dossespeicher Kyritz is a large reservoir in Brandenburg completed in 1979 that holds approximately 18 million cubic meters of water. The structure consists of an earth and clay dam roughly 1,500 meters long and about 6.60 meters high, with a reinforced concrete section for water control, stretching across flat terrain.
The reservoir was constructed between 1974 and 1979 and opened in May 1979, merging a network of three separate lakes into one large body of water. The dam replaced a village street at Stolpe and created an entirely new water landscape in a region shaped by ice age processes over 10,000 years ago.
The Dossespeicher takes its name from the Dosse River, whose water it stores and regulates. The basin was created where several separate lakes once existed, now perceived as a single connected body of water, while surrounding fields and embankments shape the image of a cultivated landscape.
The area around the basin offers walking paths along the shoreline where visitors can observe the water surface and surrounding landscape. The best time to visit is the warmer half of the year when paths are dry and accessible, while the water often freezes in winter and limits outdoor activities.
In emergencies, the basin stores up to 3.5 million cubic meters of floodwater to protect neighboring towns from flooding, with water released so slowly that fish populations and shellfish colonies remain stable. This careful water management demonstrates how humans use engineering to achieve multiple goals simultaneously.
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