Attersee, also known as Kammersee, English sometimes Lake Atter, is the largest

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 ...

of the

Salzkammergut The Salzkammergut (, ; ) is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mountains. The main river of the region is the Traun (r ...

region in the

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 ...

n state of

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

. It is Austria's third largest lake by area, surpassed only by

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

and

Lake Neusiedl Lake Neusiedl (, ; or ; ; ; ), or Fertő (), is the largest endorheic lake in Central Europe, straddling the Austrian– Hungarian border. The lake covers , of which is on the Austrian side and on the Hungarian side. The lake's drainage basi ...

, which, however, both of those larger lakes extend beyond national borders.

Geography

The surface area of Lake Attersee extends for about from north to south and from east to west. With an average depth of , its water volume even surpasses the

Chiemsee Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien (river), Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The ...

, which is larger by area. The main inflow is the Seeache creek, which flows out of the nearby Mondsee lake in the southwest. Both Attersee and Mondsee are part of a chain of lakes, beginning with

Fuschlsee Lake Fuschl () is a lake in the Salzkammergut, Austria, located in the state of Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, ...

and

Irrsee Irrsee is a lake in the Salzkammergut, Austria, located at . Its surface is approximately and its maximum depth is 32 metres. It is a popular tourist destination, also thanks to the warmest water temperature of all lakes in Salzkammergut. It is ...

. The waters flow off with the

Ager Ager or AGER may refer to: * Ager (surname) Places * Ager (river), a river in Upper Austria * Àger, a municipality in Catalonia, Spain * Viscounty of Àger, a medieval Catalan jurisdiction that branched off the County of Urgell * Ager, Californ ...

River down to the

Traun Traun () is an Austrian municipality located on the north bank of the Traun (river), river Traun and borders Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, to the east. The name ''Traun'' is derived from the Celtic word for river (). Traun is the fifth la ...

which itself discharges into the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

. In the southwest of the lake the Schafberg ("Sheep Mountain"), part of the

Salzkammergut Mountains The Salzkammergut Mountains () are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, located in the Austrian states of Salzburg and Upper Austria. They are named after the Salzkammergut historic region, part of the Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammerg ...

, rises up to , separating it from the Mondsee lake, whose southern shore borders the state of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. The ''Höllengebirge'' (literally "hell mountains")

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

range, with a height of up to , is located southeast of the lake. Due to its steady winds and clean water quality, Attersee is famous for attracting sailors and swimmers alike. During the season numerous sailing competitions are held. One of the most cherished winds on Attersee is the so-called "Rosenwind" meaning "breeze of roses". It is an easterly wind that crosses a castle's rose garden and fills the air across the lake with the smell of roses. The surrounding settlements largely depend on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, mainly in spring, summer and autumn. Because of the lake's size and despite the cold temperatures during winter the lake rarely freezes. The last time the lake was entirely covered with ice was in the late 1940s, when people were seen skating and riding motorcycles across the thickly frozen surface of the lake.

History

The name ''Atter'', derived from ''ata'' meaning "water", probably is of proto-

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

origin. The shores were already settled in the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

era. In August 1870, remains of prehistoric

pile dwellings Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...

were found near Seewalchen at the northern end of the lake. The Mondsee group stilt houses since 2011 are part of the UNESCO Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps World Heritage Site. Other archaeological findings denote settlement activities in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times from the 2nd century BC onwards. In the middle of the 19th century paddlesteamers were introduced on the lake to ferry mail and goods between the villages located around the Attersee. Today it is an important recreation site for people from the urban areas of Vienna and Linz. From the ''

Fin de siècle "''Fin de siècle''" () is a French term meaning , a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom '' turn of the century'' and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without co ...

'', Attersee became a popular destination for summer guests, apart from the bustle at the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

's sojourn in nearby

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the river Traun in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden ...

. Near the village of Litzlberg, part of Seewalchen, there is a small island castle, which

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

frequently visited during the summer. Likewise, the German painter

Albert Weisgerber Albert Weisgerber (21 April 1878 – 10 May 1915) was a German painter whose work forms a bridge between Impressionism and early Expressionism. Biography He was born in Sankt Ingbert. From 1897 to 1901 he studied at the Munich Art Academy u ...

was a summer visitor on Attersee. Lake Attersee was a rallying point for several German divisions during World War II which had retreated during the

Siege of Budapest The siege of Budapest or battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budapes ...

. Among these were several foreign volunteer divisions of the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

, which sought to reach Attersee where surrender to the Americans was preferable to capture by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. The lake is celebrated in the Viennese painter

's work Insel im Attersee.

Fishing

Among the fish species found in the lake are: *

Northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

Brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

Rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic realm, Holarctic. Distribution and habitat It Spaw ...

(''Salvelinus alpinus'') *

Lake char ''Salvelinus umbla'', also known as lake char, is a species of char found in certain lakes of the region of the Alps in Europe. This char species usually inhabits the deeper waters of the lakes, feeding on crustaceans, insects and benthic fa ...

(''Salvelinus umbla'') *

European eel The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel. Their life history was a mystery for thousands of years, and mating in the wild has not yet been observed. The five stages of their development were originally thought to be differe ...

Carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

Burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

Perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

* Whitefish

Panorama

Gallery

File:Attersee am Attersee, zicht op der Attersee foto7 2017-08-11 16.41.jpg, View to the lake from Attersee am Attersee File:Weyregg am Attersee, vanaf Attersee am Attersee 2e poging foto6 2017-08-11 17.00.jpg, View to Weyregg am Attersee from Attersee am Attersee File:Tussen Weyregg am Attersee en Steinwand, der Attersee foto7 2017-08-12 12.48.jpg, View to the lake from between Weyregg am Attersee and Steinwand File:Tussen Steinbach en Weissenbach, der Attersee foto8 2017-08-12 13.37.jpg, View to the lake from between Steinbach and Weissenbach

References

External links

AtterWiki - information Attersee and surrounding area (in German)

{{Authority control Attersee