Upper Harz Water Tunnels

The German term Wasserlauf refers to the underground element (i.e. the tunnels) of the network of watercourses used in the historic silver mining industry of the Upper Harz.

Although explosives were already in use in the 17th century in the mines of the Upper Harz, tunnels continued to be hewn out by hand, that is with hammer and chisel for much longer.

The reason was that there were difficulties in determining the right amount of gunpowder and fears that tunnels running just under the surface would collapse or that the explosive would produce fissures in the rock causing water to leak away.

Until the 18th century the miners excavated tunnels by following the weakest rock; this sometimes created a zigzag route that deviated significantly from the direct line.

The working tunnels shown in this table follow the order in the latest listing by Preussag, which is based on their use in the various power stations.