Historical and contemporary Querdamm
The Querdamm (transverse dam) is a dike that runs from the Kapitteldijk Leuth (part N840) to the Wylerbergmeer in Beek (Berg en Dal). A large sluice had been built at both ends, of which the remnants of the Southern sluice are still visible in the Wylerbergmeer.
Every year, water was let in from the Ooijse side to provide the Ooijpolder, famous for its great grasslands, with fertile silt. The Ooijpolder, with its minimal habitation, mostly on mounds, experienced little disturbance from the incoming water. For the most part located in Germany, polder the Duffelt is much more populated; it has a lot of arable land and much of its winter grain supply as well as portion of the season’s crops were lost to the water.
Between 1853 and 1855, after a long negotiation between Germany and the Netherlands, the Querdamm was built to quell the annually incoming water.
The first talks on the subject of the pending construction of a Querdamm (transverse dyke), between Wyler and the Mosterdeich near the Thornsche mill, were held after the Ooijse Waalbandijk in the Netherlands was lowered to create a flood plain. On the 11th of May 1836, the joint regional dike inspectors decided, subject to the approval of the Prussian and Dutch governments, to begin the construction of the Querdamm. In December 1851, the Royal Prussian Decree became public. In September 1853, the criteria for the dike were established in a joint meeting. In 1855, after the last major flood of the Duffelt, the Querdamm was built. This prevented the flooding of the Prussian plain and, at high water levels, provided the ability to let the "greasy water" from the Waal enter the Ooijpolder by closing both sluices in the Querdamm.
