Schulenberg 1954: A village in the Harz Mountains celebrates its resettlement
In 1954, the entire village of Schulenberg in the Upper Harz was relocated for the construction of the Oker reservoir. Today, the lake is located where buildings once stood. The inhabitants were resettled 100 metres higher up on the large Wiesenberg. To celebrate this special anniversary, Schulenberg organises a three-day festival every five years. The next resettlement festival will take place in 2029. It offers a varied programme for young and old: a Tzscherper buffet, boat trips, music from bands, choirs, bands and much more.
Children also get their money's worth with a colourful programme. This festival is not only an opportunity to commemorate the past, but also to celebrate a new beginning. Since the resettlement, Schulenberg has developed into a popular tourist destination in the Harz Mountains, as a tourist resort with a panoramic view over the famous Oker reservoir. Further information will follow in the next festive year.
On 29 August 1954, an entire village and its inhabitants in the Oberharz had to say goodbye, as their home village of Schulenberg was completely relocated. The inhabitants left their idyllic home. Schulenberg had to make way for the new Oker dam and was completely flooded. An entire village was created on the "Kleiner Wiesenberg", just under 500 metres above sea level: Neu-Schulenberg. The reason for the resettlement was the massive flooding caused by the melting snow during the cold season. As a result, the Oker was no longer the idyllic river that babbled gently through the region, but became a menacing danger for the inhabitants of the village due to massive water floods. To keep this under control, the Oker was dammed with an almost 100 metre high concrete wall directly behind Schulenberg. A village moved and the Oker dam was created.
But how was something like this realised back then? In 1928, a building freeze was imposed in the village. The residents were also informed that their houses would have to remain unchanged. In the event of resettlement at a later date, compensation was only to be paid for existing assets. However, the idea of building the dam and the associated resettlement seems to have originated earlier, in the early 1900s. The land had already been surveyed in 1912. Nothing happened for several years; it was not until the summer of 1938 that labourers arrived to build the dam, and work was suspended during the Second World War. Work on the dam continued in 1949. New roads were built on the valley slopes and necessary bridges were built in two places.
The Harz waterworks, which were responsible for the construction of the dam, acquired the houses in the valley and demolished the buildings in the old Schulenberg down to the foundations. The former owners were given new plots of land on the Wiesenberg. So on 29 August 1954, the people of Schulenberg left their village and moved to their new home on the "Kleiner Wiesenberg". This move was celebrated 70 years ago as a big festival with thousands of guests and a brass band. The dam was finally completed in 1956 after 30,000 cubic metres of high forest had been cleared, a village resettled and new roads and bridges built.
