Dam Crest of Markersbach Reservoir

a notice board provides information about the origin

Ideal starting point for a hike at the lower basin, free parking

In 1961, the GDR government publicly announced a competition to determine and determine the location of a new pumped storage power plant. Two years later, the choice fell on the Markersbach location, and the development of a basic technical concept began. In 1964, the VEB Schachtbau Nordhausen carried out the first geological investigations for the construction of the lower basin in the Mittweidatal. The first dumping tests were carried out in 1966 on what later became the upper reservoir by the Weimar dam construction company. The following year, the Ministry for Coal and Energy of the GDR decided to construct the underground cavern power plant with a capacity of 1000 megawatts. In 1968 the development of the projects and the development of the building site began. After all the exploration and preparatory work was completed, the actual construction work began. This included setting up construction sites, construction roads and supply networks, expanding the Grünstädtel train station and clearing the village of Obermittweida.