Kleine Oker Dam Keeper's Cabin and Weir

Here the little Oker crosses the ditch. For the numerous stream crossings, so-called "failures" have been set up, which prevent debris from being washed into the trench and enable the trench to be cleaned. The HWN 149 stamping point is also here. The small Oker feeds below the Altenau forest swimming pool.

Trench keeper's house on the dam ditch. The Dammgraben is the longest man-made ditch in the Upper Harz. Its purpose was to divert surface water for the operation of the Upper Harz coal and steel industry from distant areas with high levels of precipitation (in particular from the Bruchberg massif and parts of the Brocken massif). It was laid out from 1732 and extended further eastwards until 1827.

Above the former "Free Mining Town of Altenau", the "Altenau" stream flows into the Dammgraben, about 600 m from the point where the "Kleine Oker" crosses the Dammgraben. Here, directly on the Harzer Hexenstieg, the stamping point is located at a rest area next to a water house. The Dammgraben continues its course via the Silberbrunnen, the tributaries of the Kleine Oker, the Große Oker, the Gerlachsbach, the Eisenquelle, the Große Kolk and the Morgenbrodtsthaler Graben to the Sperberhaier Damm. The shortest access route begins at the small parking lot on the right-hand side of the road from Torfhaus to Altenau. From there, cross the road and follow the path along the romantic Dammgraben to the stamping point. It is recommended to continue the hike along the Dammgraben to the Sperberhaier Dammhaus. You can also go back along the Dammgraben, cross the street and follow the Dammgraben to the “Förster-Ludewig-Platz” HWN 133. The two stamp stations on this section of the Dammgraben are particularly suitable for families with small children but also for seniors with physical disabilities.Source:harzer-wandernadel.de/stempelstellen/uebersichtskarte/stempelstelle-149-kleine-oker