The Kummersee was a dammed

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 ...

located south of today's hamlet of Rabenstein (Corvara) in the municipality of

Moos in Passeier Moos in Passeier (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in the Passeier Valley. It is located in South Tyrol, northern Italy, about northwest of the province's capital Bolzano, on the border with Austria. Geography As of 30 November ...

and existed from 1401 to 1774.

History

The lake was formed in 1401 as a result of a landslide of the Ganderberg, which led to the complete occlusion of the upper

Passeier Valley The Passeier Valley ( or ; ) is the valley of the Passer river, in the mountains of South Tyrol, northern Italy. The Passer river is a left-bank tributary to the Adige. At the mouth of the valley, where the two rivers join, stands the town of Me ...

and the damming of the

Passer ''Passer'' is a genus of Old World sparrow, sparrows, also known as the true sparrows. The genus contains 28 species and includes the house sparrow and the Eurasian tree sparrow, two of the most common birds in the world. They are small birds wi ...

stream. The body of water probably reached a length of about 2 km and a depth of 35 m. The earthen dam that bordered it is estimated to have had a volume of 3.5 million m³: it was unstable and tended to give way following heavy rains, producing disastrous floods along the valley that even reached the city of

Merano Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its Spa town, spa resorts, it is located within a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to Height above mean sea ...

. The lake's German name can be translated into English as “Lake of Sorrow” because of the major problems it caused. The dam caved in eight times, causing many floods. The flood of 1419 was particularly disastrous for the city of Merano, destroying the , the adjoining hospital, and bridges, as well as causing the deaths of more than 400 people. After the penultimate catastrophic event in 1773, it was decided to create a drainage channel for the lake to prevent further damage. Engineer Walcher was commissioned with the work, but in 1774, when it was completed, perhaps due to a construction defect or due to an error on the part of the workmen, an unexpected and violent flooding happened, which dried up completely and did not reform again. The mass of water flowed down the valley and created, for the last time, problems and damage in the city of Merano. Today, there are no visible signs of the Kummersee left, although the landslide area that spawned it is partly still active today. In local place names, the memory of the lake has remained in the name of a farm, the Seehof, that stood on its shores. In 2004, the municipality of Moos created a promenade that traces its shores.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Portal bar, Lakes, Italy Lakes of South Tyrol Lakes of the Alps Lakes of Europe by country