Despite its name, the Dassower See (), sometimes called Lake Dassow or Dassow Bay in English, is not 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 ...

, but a side bay, locally known as a ''wiek'', of the Trave Fjord, northeast of

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

(

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

) on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

Geography

The town of Dassow in the district

Nordwestmecklenburg Nordwestmecklenburg (''Northwestern Mecklenburg'') is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north-western part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea and borders on Schleswig-Holstein to the west. Neighboring di ...

is the only large settlement on the shores of the bay. The Dassower See is a saltwater bay, which together with the Pötenitzer Wiek is almost fully cut off from the open sea and the

Bay of Lübeck The Bay of Lübeck (, ) is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of the Germany, German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. It forms the southwestern part of the Bay of Mecklenburg. The main port is Travem ...

by the Priwall Peninsula. The bay is approximately in area and has a funnel-like shape extending outwards from the mouth of the River Stepenitz in the southeast and narrowing again in the northwest where it enters the Pötenitzer Wiek, an eastern bay of the lower

Trave The Trave () is a river in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is approximately long, running from its source near the village of Gießelrade in Ostholstein to Travemünde, where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It passes through Bad Segeberg, Bad Old ...

, to approximately . At the mouth of the Stepenitz, near the Dassow Bridge, is a small landing stage for fishing boats from Dassow. The bay belongs to the city of Lübeck, and its entire shoreline forms part of the western border of

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in population; it covers an are ...

Flora and fauna

As home to approximately 30 kinds of duck, the Dassower See is one of the largest bird reserves in Germany. The lake provides refuge and is also an important migration and wintering area for Nordic water fowl that shelter on its two islands of grass and reeds. The entire shore of the Dassower See and the bay itself have been protected by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

since 1983.

History

Tourism and land development was not permitted until German reunification as the entire lakeshore range was a restricted area. The

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

had erected a wall, several metres high, along the shore, so the lake could not be seen from East Germany. Entering the prohibited area was possible only with special permission. The border runs along the flood line, so that during normal water levels a narrow strip along the bank belongs to Schleswig-Holstein which was part of the Federal Republic. Thus, boats could ply the Trave delta without hindrance.

Sights

The castle of Schloss Lütgenhof is situated on the shore of the Dassower See. Moritz von Paepcke designed and built this castle in 1839. Mast-Jägermeister AG converted Schloss Lütgenhof to a restaurant and hotel with twenty-three rooms in 1999.

Literature

* Manfred Diehl, Dorothea Diehl: ''Naturschutzgebiete an der Ostseeküste Schleswig-Holsteins.'' In: ''Berichte des Vereins „Natur und Heimat“ und des Naturhistorischen Museums zu Lübeck.'' (''Protected Areas of the Baltic Sea Coast of Schleswig-Holstein.'' In: ''Reports of the Association "Nature and Homeland" and the Nature-Historical Museum to Lübeck.'') Heft (Number) 19/20, 1986, {{ISSN, 0067-5806 Lakes of Schleswig-Holstein Bays of Schleswig-Holstein Lübeck Nature reserves in Schleswig-Holstein Federal waterways in Germany BDassowerSee