It is located in the Free State of Saxony in Eastern Germany.

To create the Amselsee in Saxon Switzerland, in 1934 a stream, the Grünbach (or Amselgrundbach), the main waterbody in the Amselgrund valley, was impounded by the municipality of Rathen just above its confluence with the Wehlgrund that joins from the rights 1934.

At 127 m above sea level the curved, narrow, roughly 550 m long trout pond is used in summer for boat rides (using slot machines!)

The barrier is a straight gravity dam made of rubble stone masonry.

It has a drainage outlet with a diameter of 50 cm and a flood spillway with 7 openings, each 2 m wide, in the centre of the dam.