In the valley of the Saidenbach, which rises on the Saidenberg near Obersaida, the Saidenbach Dam was built between 1928 and 1933. It can store 22.4 million cubic meters of water and supplies the city of Chemnitz with drinking water. A 334 m long and 48 m high dam holds back the water from the Saidenbach, Haselbach and Lippersdorfer Bach. There were several mills in the valley, such as the Pulvermühle and the Hölzelmühle, which had to make way for the dam.
A nature trail, which was created by nature conservationists below the dam, provides an introduction to the flora and fauna of the area. Beech forests, which in spring have a rich ground flora of early bloomers, line the path. Later, shade-tolerant plants such as wood sorrel and shadflower cover the forest floor.
First mentioned in documents in 1299, Forchheim is a forest-strip village whose most important source of income for centuries was agriculture....