Kiessee, Göttingen

The Göttinger Kiessee is a dredged lake in the south of Göttingen. It originated from a gravel open pit mine and today serves together with its shore zones as a local recreation area. Until the end of the 19th century, this area was part of the floodplain of the nearby Leine River and consisted mainly of wet meadows. The northern part was on the territory of the city of Göttingen, the southeastern part on that of Geismar and the southwestern part on that of the municipality of Rosdorf. Since 1964, Geismar has been incorporated into Göttingen and after an exchange of territory in 2018, the lake is entirely on Göttingen territory. Gravel mining began in the north at the beginning of the 20th century. Today's sand road formed the access road at that time. In the 1950s, the lake still consisted of two separate parts. The clearly narrower middle of the water reminds us of this. For centuries, a connecting road from Geismar via Stegemühle to Rosdorf led across this point. On the Geismar side, a part of the paved route has been preserved. On the Rosdorf side, the connection was made via the street Am Ascherberg. At the beginning of the 1960s, the bridge between the two lakes was demolished and the entire area was turned into a recreational area.