The Lauenstein Flood Retention Basin is a striking dam in the Eastern Ore Mountains, built in response to the devastating 2002 flood. It's a place where engineering power meets a scenic river valley, and walking along the dam crest offers views you won't find anywhere else in this part of Saxony.

Under normal conditions the reservoir holds only a small fraction of its capacity, leaving a wide green basin visible below, framed by forested slopes. In spring and summer the surrounding meadows and woods of the Osterzgebirge make for pleasant walking, while autumn brings colorful hillsides and winter blankets the dam and valley in snow for a quiet, dramatic scene. The structure itself — 41.4 meters high and 260 meters wide — is impressive up close, and the view down to the town of Lauenstein just below the dam completes the picture.

How to get there

• Lauenstein — a 20-30 minute walk to the dam, easy trail, following the Müglitz valley
• Löwenhain or Fürstenwalde — alternative approach from the upper reservoir area, via the roads connecting these villages to Lauenstein

Practical information

• The basin serves flood control purposes and is usually only partially filled (about 0.2 million m³ against a maximum capacity of 5.19 million m³)
• The roads linking Löwenhain and Fürstenwalde with Lauenstein and Liebenau run through the impoundment area

Interestingly, plans for a dam here date back to 1901, and the project went through several stages — from 1930s designs, through 1970s plans for Dresden's drinking water supply, to the final construction after the floods of 1997 and 2002.