Information board:
Hiking around Geislingen “Springs, Celts, Signs of Faith”
The big dam
If we look a little into the forest at this point, we can see and hear the Riedbach rushing down a small step. The trigger for this is the large dam, which can be clearly seen in the forest and still seals off the entire valley today. At the site of the steep step there was probably once a valve with which the draining of the dammed water could be regulated and which rotted and was washed out over the centuries.
According to a court record from 1652, the pond (dam), which had probably fallen into disrepair or been destroyed during the 30-year war, was restored by the owners of the Geislingen manor. The pond was then restocked with fish by Carl Sigmund von Hohenberg. Source: Geislingen municipal archives, AB 569
Immediately at the foot of the dam, the water returns to its original bed in the middle of the valley. Since it is proven that the Bubenhofen were great hydraulic engineers in Grossselfingen, it can be assumed that they were the ones who had this dam built to increase the water supply to their former castle in Geislingen.
Source: Information board hiking around Geislingen "Springs, Celts, Gaubenszeichen"