Lake Achen () is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, north of

Jenbach Jenbach is a municipality in the district of Schwaz in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Etymology Many inhabitants of Jenbach believe that the name "Jenbach" is derived from "Jenseits des Baches", which means "Beyond the brook", however earlier ve ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. Lake Achen is also called "Fjord of the Alps" and "Tyrolean Sea". The largest lake within the federal state, its maximum depth is . Together with the Achen Valley, it parts the

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. It is located on the Austria–Germany border. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part ...

mountain range in the west from the

Brandenberg Alps The Brandenberg Alps () are a sub-group of the Northern Limestone Alps, that run in front of the Eastern Alps for their whole length. They lie entirely in Austria between Achensee in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, the Inn Valley and the Bavarian Prealps. ...

in the east. Water quality is near that of drinking water, with sight up to below the surface. An alpine lake, water temperature is accordingly low, rarely above . Its size and wind conditions make it suitable for

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

. Eben am Achensee, Achenkirch, and

Pertisau Pertisau is a small village on the Achensee Lake in the Tyrol region of Austria. Pertisau is in the Schwaz (district). It is located in the Karwendel Alpine Park, one of the oldest, cross-border, protected areas of the Eastern Alps. The town was ...

are municipalities on the lake. The Achensee and its hinterland serves as the model for the 'Tiernsee', setting of the

Chalet School The Chalet School is a series of 58 school story novels by Elinor Brent-Dyer, Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, initially published between 1925 and 1970. The fictional school was initially located in the Tyrol (state), Austrian Tyrol, before it was moved t ...

series of children's books by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer.

History

The city of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

bought the lake in 1919 from the St. Georgenberg-Fiecht Abbey, who had received it from the rulers of

Schlitters Schlitters is a municipality in the Schwaz district in the Austrian state of Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the Co ...

around 1120. Due to various texts and illustrations in the hunting and fishing manuscripts of Emperor Maximilian, Lake Achensee was famous already at the beginning of the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

Powerplant

Since 1924, the lake is managed by the Tiroler Wasserkraft AG (TIWAG), which was founded for this purpose. Originally, its only outflow was the ''Achenbach'', feeding the

Isar The Isar () is a river in Austria and in Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel mountain range of the Alps. The Isar river enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Krün, Wallgau, Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching ...

. Since 1927, when a power plant in

was finished, it primarily feeds the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

, at a level difference of 380 m below. Eight

pelton wheel The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an Impulse (physics), impulse-type water turbine invented by American inventor Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead w ...

s at 500 RPM produce a total of 96 MW. In winter, the level of the lake is lowered by up to 6 meters; accordingly the size of the lake keeps changing. At maximum level, the reservoir can store 66 million m³ of water.

Tourism

When the Lower Inn Valley Railway () railway was finished in 1859, tourism started to flourish. In order to make the abbey profit, the first

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

''St. Josef'' was acquired in 1887. Furthermore, the construction of the 7 km long

Achenseebahn The Achensee Railway (, ) is a long metre gauge railway running between Jenbach () and Seespitz () on Lake Achen in Tyrol (Austria). Within its length it rises some in height, with the steeper sections using the Riggenbach rack system. It is ...

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

was initiated, which went into service in 1889 between

and ''Seespitz''. On 21 July that year a second steamboat, the ''St. Benedikt'', went into service. In 1890 the two boats with a capacity of 320 seats transported about 30,000 persons. In 1911 a third scheduled boat, the ''Stella Maris'' went into service. It was the first passenger boat on a lake in the Danubian monarchy originally equipped with a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

. The boat was designed for 400 passengers, and featured a particularly silent engine at low rpm, similar to those that later were used in the submarines of World War I. However, the ''Stella Maris'' was difficult to manoeuvre. When the lake was bought by the city of Innsbruck in 1919, the boat was renamed into ''Stadt Innsbruck''. In 1925 a motorboat named ''Tirol'' was acquired, and in 1927 for the first time more than 100,000 persons were transported. In 1959 the ''St. Benedikt'' was replaced with a modern ship of the same name with a diesel engine. In 1971 the ''Tirol'' was replaced with a larger ''Tirol II'' for 40 passengers. In 1994 the ''MS Tirol'' went into service, replacing the ''Stadt Innsbruck'', and in August 2007 the ''MS Stadt Innsbruck'' replaced the ''St. Benedikt''.

Recreation

Achen Lake is a large tourist destination year round. In the summer, Achen Lake is used for various watersports, swimming, and boating. The land surrounding the lake has a lot to offer guests with over 500 kilometers of marked hiking trails, 250 kilometers of (e-)bike routes, 183 kilometers of signposted running trails, numerous climbing and via ferrata routes, and two golf courses. In the winter, the area around Achen Lake continues to draw tourists as a cross-country skiing hub. The region's ski areas have 53 km of family-friendly slopes and bespoke offers for children, as well as over 220 kilometres of trails groomed for classic skiing and numerous tracks for adaptive skiing.

Gallery

Image:Achensee Seespitz um 1900.jpg, Seespitz about 1900 Image:achensee_winter.jpg, Achensee in winter Image:Pertisau_Achensee.jpg, View from mountain top of Big Unnütz towards

(SW) Image:Achenseekraftwerk_Inntal_Jenbach_Tirol.jpg, Achenseekraftwerk in

Inntal The Inntal is the valley containing the Inn river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The valley has a total length of 517 km and the biggest city located in Inntal is Innsbruck. The valley is divided into the following sections based on r ...

valley Image:Achenseebahn Seespitz.jpg,

with steam boat St. Benedikt (II)

Notes and references

Literature

* Naupp, Thomas OSB und Pinggera, Dr. Gert-Klaus: ''Stiftsmuseum Fiecht, Dokumente zur Geschichte von St. Georgenberg-Fiecht'' (Katalog) * Armbruster, Karl; Pawlik, Hans Peter: ''Jenbach – Achensee. Die Tiroler Zahnradbahn.'' Slezak Verlag, Wien 1993; 96 S.

External links

Achensee powerplant
architecture archive {{Authority control Lakes of Tyrol (federal state) Reservoirs in Austria