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I was looking — unsuccessfully — for an image of the actual village on the internet for the post below. Today I found (buried among other papers, of course) a postcard that we picked up when we had visited the area, which shows photographs of Graun before the dam was built. The 14th-century bell tower is easily recognizable in the top right and bottom left photos (also in the top left photo but I was unable to get a clear image from photographing a postcard.)
Things like this — ghost towns, abandoned railroads, sunken villages — fascinate us, don’t they? I find myself particularly fascinated by what one finds under the water’s surface. The rivers and lakes of Europe have claimed millennia of artifacts, from pre-historic jewelry to medieval swords, and on through to Third Reich memorabilia. This online article (update: sorry, link now dead) about diving for artifacts in the Salzkammergut region gives one a good idea of what’s down there.
Update: Divers have left reports online that one may dive (with permission from the municipality) but that there is nothing to see below the surface — the tower stands in about 2 meters of mud, and so the old streets, etc., are completely covered.
>I tried to post that previous comment (from the post below) yesterday, but it wouldn’t take. I should have read this post before re-commenting on that one!
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>They evacuated and tore down the buildings before flooding, and then in the 70s they cleaned up the area again, but I imagine there’s quite a bit to go scavenger hunting for. We (the beau and I) would LOVE to dive there, but we’re pretty sure it’s off limits.)
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>Drought has caused water levels to drop in the artificial lakes that supply Phoenix, but archeologists are getting a rare chance to examine exposed ruins and artifacts.The Graun bell tower appears creepy and surrealistic to me, yet fascinating.
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