Kraftwerk Kammerl, Hydroelectric power station in Saulgrub, Germany.
Kraftwerk Kammerl is a hydroelectric facility in Saulgrub that harnesses water from the Ammer River to generate electricity. The installation operates at approximately 797 meters elevation, using a pressurized pipeline system to deliver water for power production.
The facility was constructed between 1897 and 1899 and originally supplied electricity to the Ammergau railway line. This power plant was a pioneering installation for hydroelectric railway power in Bavaria.
The machine hall was built in Jugendstil style and is essentially in its original condition. The site is a listed monument (file D-1-80-129-10), which also covers the 1,400-metre canal with its tunnel and the aqueduct over the Halbammer, the pressure pipe, the washhouse and the staff dwelling house. The plant has been automated and is monitored remotely from Munich, so the neighbouring houses stand unused.
The plant is automated and remotely monitored from Munich, so there is no visitor access to the machine hall or the grounds. The aqueduct over the Halbammer can be walked but is locked to unauthorised persons. The building stands about four kilometres southwest of Saulgrub on the Ammer, with the service dwelling and washhouse beside it.
Until its shutdown in 2013, Kraftwerk Kammerl was the world's oldest still-operating railway power plant of its kind. It was one of only two German railway power stations that fed electricity directly into the overhead line of the Ammergau Railway, via a 15 kV cable to Saulgrub, rather than into the 110 kV grid.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,873 contributors worldwide.