Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, near

Rosenheim Rosenheim is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn at the confluence of th ...

. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The Alz flows into the Inn which then merges with the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

. The Chiemsee is divided into the bigger, north section, in the northeast, called , and the , in the southwest. The

Chiemgau Chiemgau () is the common name of a geographic area in Upper Bavaria. It refers to the foothills of the Alps between the rivers Inn and Traun, with the Chiemsee at its center. The political districts that contain the Chiemgau are Rosenheim and Tr ...

, the region surrounding the Chiemsee, is a popular recreation area. Karte Chiemgau

Origin

The Chiemsee was formed, like many other pre-alpine lakes, at the end of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

about 10,000 years ago from a hollow carved out by a

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

(a ). Originally the lake covered an area of almost , which is about three times its present area. Within 10,000 years its area had shrunk to around . Before 1904 the water level was lowered by about a metre. As a result, large areas of dry land were reclaimed.

Islands

There are three main islands on the lake: Herreninsel ("gentlemen's island"), the largest, with an area of ; Frauenchiemsee, , also called ''Fraueninsel'' ("ladies' island"); and uninhabited Krautinsel ("cabbage island"), , called this name because in the Middle Ages it was cultivated with

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&n ...

s and other vegetables. * Herreninsel has a palace built by King Ludwig II in 1878 called , which was never completed but was meant to be a replica of the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

. Many of its rooms are open to tourists; tours of the palace and its extensive grounds are conducted throughout the summer. * Frauenchiemsee, the smaller of the two main islands, houses a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nunnery, built in 782, as well as a small village. The nuns make a liquor called ("cloister liquor") and

marzipan Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imit ...

( almond paste). The smallest island in the lake is the west of Frauenchiemsee, which is of square outline, with a side length of only or an area of . This tiny island had probably been created artificially to mark a shallow spot for sailboats. There is a

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

on the island, originally planted in 1935, and replaced by a young tree in the 2000s. File:chiemsee010.jpg, View across the Chiemsee with the Chiemgau Alps in the background File:Chiemsee Fraueninsel 323.jpg, Herreninsel with the former Monastery "Kloster Herrenchiemsee

File:Aerial image of the Fraueninsel.jpg, Frauenchiemsee, Fraueninsel with Monastery "Frauenchiemsee

in the foreground File:Chiemsee021.jpg, :de:Krautinsel, Krautinsel with (right) a small part of the Herreninsel island and in the background the Chiemgau Alps

AFRC Lake Hotel

On 1 September 1938 the first Autobahn rest house opened on the A8 on the outskirts of

Bernau am Chiemsee Bernau am Chiemsee (written ) is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim in Germany on the Lake Chiemsee, and a Luftkurort. Geography Topography The Luftkurort Bernau lies in the Chiemgau area at the south-western bank of the lake Chi ...

on the lake’s southern shore. From 1945 until 2 September 2003 the building served as an Armed Forces Recreation Center called the Lake Hotel. The building is now an orthopaedic clinic.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lakes of Bavaria Ramsar sites in Germany Tourist attractions in Bavaria LChiemsee