is 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. At an elevation of 4 m, its surface area is 14.3 km². Amidst the lake is an island upon which the City of Ratzeburg is located, accessible from the mainland via three isthmuses. The island is home to the Old Town, including a cathedral - one of the oldest in Germany. At the end of the 17th century, the old castle at the western end of the island was completely destroyed and the site has since been degraded to a mere parking lot. During the division of Germany, the northeastern coast of the lake (between the Römnitz hamlet of Hohenleuchte and Groß Sarau hamlet of Rothenhusen) was part of the

Inner German border The inner German border ( or ''deutsch–deutsche Grenze''; initially also , zonal boundary) was the frontier between the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the West Germany, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West ...

. It served as a border sluice for Stasi agents to infiltrate West Germany, via motorboats.

External links

* Lakes of Schleswig-Holstein Ratzeburg LRatzeburgerSee {{SchleswigHolstein-geo-stub