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The »Kurt-Oggel-Cabin«
on our camping site in Wehlen
The flood and what happened after
Kurt Oggel Cabin, Canoe station in
Stadt Wehlen, Saxon Switzerland
The river Elbe reached its peak in
August 2002 in Wehlen with a height
of 11.8 m (2m are normal)
Now, after the damage of the big flood of August 2002 has been cleared and thousands of hours of work have been done by volunteers of our sports club, we can still remember the picture, when the whole campground in Wehlen was covered with water of the river Elbe. Only the top of the flagpole and 2 cm of the roof of our old cabin could be seen during the peak of that flood. Unbelievable.
We were shocked after the flood when the local fire fighters told us
that our old cabin had to be torn down. Many thoughts ran through our
mind: will still everything be the same after the flood, who is supposed
to pay for all that or do we need to give up our loved campground?
Nobody really wanted to believe in the last thought. So
we all helped to clear off the mud, dirt and garbage. Fences were
renewed, the lawn got new grass and - it looked a little better already.
It took only 14 days and everything was green again. Almost everything looked the same as it did before the flood. The only gaps/missing things were: the cabin, Bobby’s caravan and tent, and part of the old hedge didn’t exist anymore.
Topping-out ceremony of our new
Kurt-Oggel-Cabin
And we … could look forward soon because of the
donations from all over the country and the Free State of Saxony who
helped us financing our projects in Wehlen. Without your donations we
wouldn’t have been able to close the gap.
The money by the Free State of Saxony could only be used to rebuild
houses. For all the smaller things we used the donated money. Those are
the things that are needed for a sports club’s life, to accommodate our
guests well, even if the weather is not kind. You won’t believe how much
money needs to be spend on a cabin to actually use it as one. Almost
11,000 €.
 Our dining room at the cabin ... |
|
... is suitable for 24+ X guests |
After the reconstruction the members of our canoe club
discovered the cabin again.
It is not always easy to keep our premises neat and clean since it is
located about 25 km away from Dresden. But the new cabin motivated many
of us to go to the mountains more often. An evening at a cabin in the
Saxon Switzerland can be as good and cosy as one in the Alps.
The sleeping places in the attic are
suitable for 24+X
guests also
The kitchen is the (winter-) bathroom
as well
The sleeping place in the attic isn’t a 5-star hotel
but this playground is loved by our kids. All 24 mattresses (190 cm long
x 65 cm wide) are supplied with air from underneath and consist of a
soft 60 mm foam rubber with a sheet on top.
Every visitor needs to bring his own sleeping bag because of hygiene
matters. There are no blankets or pillows available at our cabin, you’ll
need to bring your own. Even though there is no heating upstairs, it
isn’t too cold at (winter) nights because of the good isolated walls.
Because it is not a luxury cabin we need to live with
some compromises especially during the winter months. Actually the cabin
is there only for sleeping for an “emergency” or for winters.
During the winter time our bathroom, shower and WC’s, which are outside,
are closed. So you need to be very tolerant when spending the night with
24 fellows who all want to do their morning toilette at the same time in
the kitchen. Usually paddlers are fine with that situation.
On the other side our kitchen is quite well equipped : a stove, warm
water, microwave, toaster, water boiler, dishes and everything else you
need to feed 30 hungry mouths at the same time.
The old Kurt-Oggel cabin and the upper campground
before
the flood of 2002.
Our dia-show would like to show you how dramatic the flood had been and how well the reconstruction went.