Markkleeberger See ''(in English: Lake Markkleeberg)'' is an artificial

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 ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, next to Markkleeberg, a suburb on the south side of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. At an elevation of 112.5 m, its surface area is 2.52 km². It is a former open-pit coal mine, flooded in 1999 with groundwater and developed in 2006 as a tourist area. On its southeastern shore is Germany's only pump-powered artificial whitewater slalom course, the

Kanupark Markkleeberg Kanupark Markkleeberg, built in 2006, is the second of two artificial whitewater canoe/kayak slalom courses in Germany, and the only one powered by pumps. The other German course is the Eiskanal in Augsburg, used in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games ...

. Adjacently in the south, there is another artificial lake, which is named '' Störmthaler See''.> The two lakes, only separated by the Bundesautobahn 38, are part of the

Central German Lake District The Central German Lake District (''German:'' Mitteldeutsches Seenland) is a group of artificial lakes that are the result of extensive open pit lignite mining. The area around Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous ci ...

. An elegant long paved lake promenade runs along the northeastern embankment of the Markkleeberger See. Since September 2012, boat tours with two passenger ships have started here. In 2025, the motorship ''MS Markkleeberg'' offers round trips on the Markkleeberger See, whereas the other ship, the ''MS Wachau'', cruises on the Störmthaler See.

Störmthal Canal

On 18 May 2013, the long Störmthal canal connecting the two lakes was completed. A lock with a lift of was created here, since the lakes have different water levels. However, the canal is closed since March 2021 due to embankment damage and cracking. To mitigate the hazard, transverse structures were promptly constructed above and below the lock structure. A "Feasibility Study for the Rehabilitation of the Störmthal Canal Waterway Connection with the Compact Structure Between Störmthal and Markkleeberg Lakes" is underway. In February 2025 was announced, that the results of the

feasibility study A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...

will be available in the first half-year of 2026.

Trail network

Since its completion in 2009, it is possible to walk around the Markkleeberger See at various heights on an extensive network of paths - close to the water on the ''Unterer Uferweg'' (bank path) and above on the ''Uferrundweg'' (panoramic loop trail, length ) and its numerous scenically attractive side paths. The best views offers the tall Auenhain spur on the southeastern bank of the lake. The long cycle path from

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

to Markkleeberg under the name ''Kohle-Dampf-Licht-Seen'' (coal-steam-light-lakes) leads along the lake.

Bathing beaches

Bathing beaches of various quality levels are the east side of the Markkleeberger See. A family beach is adjacent to the lake promenade, green beach bays are further south (called Wachau Beach), the sports beach and the dog beach follow in the south east (called Auenhain Beach). The west side of the lake, including an island called ''Gezelauer Insel'', is not for bathing, because it is priority area for nature and landscape.

References

External links

* Official website: * * {{Cite web , title=Markkleeberg Lake , url=https://www.kohle-dampf-licht-seen.de/en/staedte-sehenswuerdigkeiten-landschaften/markkleeberg-lake , access-date=2025-05-04 , website=kohle-dampf-licht-seen.de , language=en Lakes of Saxony Markkleeberg