Lake Złotnickie

Lake Złotnickie is a narrow reservoir, roughly eight kilometres long, on the Kwisa river, held back by a stone dam built a century ago. It lies in the Izera Foothills between Gryfów Śląski and Leśna, right next to a former mining town that was once called Golden Dream.

History: a dam from 1919–1924

The dam was built in 1919–1924 below Gryfów Śląski, when this area was part of Germany (the reservoir was then called Talsperre Goldentraum). It is the first reservoir on the Kwisa; a few kilometres downstream lies the older Lake Leśniańskie, dammed next to Czocha Castle. The reservoir protects the valley from floods and feeds a hydroelectric plant that still runs today. At normal water level it holds about 10.5 million m³ of water, and its surface is given as 120–125 hectares.

The dam itself is 36 metres high, with a crest 168 metres long. It is a curved gravity dam of rubble stone, with a side spillway and a stepped channel that carries away flood water.

Golden Dream by the lake

Złotniki Lubańskie, the village above the reservoir, has an unusual past. Gold mining began here around the middle of the 17th century, and in 1677 the settlement was granted the rights of a mining town and the name Goldentraum, meaning Golden Dream. The deposit ran out quickly, the inhabitants turned to weaving and the town lost its charter in the 19th century. What survives is a rectangular market square of about 85 × 90 metres that was never paved, and a 17th-century church rebuilt several times.

Once the dam was finished the village became a summer resort. Between the wars it had boat landings, bathing areas and a youth hostel, and motorboats and small excursion boats sailed on the lake.

What to see

• The dam crest, crossed by a narrow road, with views of the stone wall and the power station at its foot.
• A stone lion by the tunnel leading to the dam.
• The market square of Złotniki Lubańskie, which still shows the layout of the old mining town.
• The wooded shores, lined with holiday centres, campsites and boat rental points.

Tripto tip

The lake is at its best in summer and early autumn, when the slopes of the Kwisa valley are green or golden. An hour is enough for a walk over the dam and around it; plan more time for a day by the water. It is easy to combine the trip with Czocha Castle and Lake Leśniańskie nearby.