The Leopoldsteinersee is a mountain lake in

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, in the east of Austria, about northwest of the city of

Eisenerz Eisenerz (; "Iron ore") is a market place and old mining town in the Austrian state of Styria, . N.W. of Graz by rail. Pop. (2001) 6,400. It is situated in the deep Erzbach (Enns), Erzbach Valley, dominated on the east by the :de:Pfaffenstein (H ...

. The lake is named after the nearby Leopoldstein Castle.

Description

The Leopoldsteinersee is situated at above sea level at the foot of the Seemauer in the western

Hochschwab The Hochschwab in the Upper Styria is a mountain, , and the highest summit in the eponymous mountain range. Location The summit of the Hochschwab is a flat, rock and grass-covered dome, that may easily be climbed from the Schiestlhaus () to ...

range. The lake is long and wide. The maximum depth is . The river Seebach feeds the lake, but it is mainly fed by underground springs. The lake is surrounded by rugged mountains with mixed or coniferous forests. A hiking trail circles the lake. There is a local outfit that rents electric or rowing boats.

Legend

The people near the lake have a legend that a

merman A merman (: mermen; also merlad or merboy in youth), the male counterpart of the mythical female mermaid, is a legendary creature which is human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes mer ...

was caught in the lake. To buy his freedom he showed his captors the iron deposits at

Erzberg The Ennstal Alps (German ''Ennstaler Alpen''), the Alps of the Enns valley, are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps System. They are located primarily in the Austrian state of Styria, and also into the state of Upper Austria. The most ...

. Then he disappeared into the .

Gallery

Eisenerz - Leopoldsteinersee.JPG, View of Leopoldsteiner See 067 Fischer am Leopoldsteinersee - Aquarell von Matthäus Loder, 1822.jpg, ''Fishermen on the lake in 1822''. Watercolor by Leopoldsteinersee.jpg, Looking towards the northwest Polyommatus coridon03.jpg, ''

Lysandra coridon The chalkhill blue (''Lysandra coridon'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm, where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, wh ...

'' photographed near the lake

References

Citations Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leopoldsteinersee Lakes of Styria Mountain lakes LLeopoldsteinersee