4. Dam
In a medieval mining area, different machines were used for extraction and treatment of ores. For their operation, muscle strength and hydropower were necessary. For this purpose, the construction of a dam with an artificial lake and a sophisticated system of channels were required. By means of the hydropower water pumping stations and hoists, stamp mills, mills and bag bellows for the smelting works could be operated.
Now the medieval dam still having a width of 12 m and a height of 6 m, is traversed by a modern forest path. In former days, the dam blocked the whole valley and served for the damming of the Ahbach. Probably, the resulting artificial lake had a length of 150 m and a width of 50 m. It contained about 10000 m³. With the dammed water, running through a sloping channel for about 200 m, the water wheel for the drainage of the mining site was driven in the wheel chamber. Only few remains of that sloping channel were preserved.