Lake Stechlin or Großer Stechlinsee 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 ...

Landkreis Oberhavel Oberhavel is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring districts are (clockwise from the north): Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (district) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the districts of Uckermark and Bar ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

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 60 m, its surface area is 4.52 km². The Stechlin cisco, a dwarfed fish, is found only in this lake.

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...

's last novel, '' Der Stechlin'', was set in its vicinity. Stechlinsee has a maximum depth of 69.5 metres, making it the deepest lake in the State of Brandenburg. It is also one of the clearest with a visual depth of up to 11 metres (average 6 metres). The water is of drinking quality. It is home to the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries. The Stechlin district is still one of the most important oligotrophic landscapes of Central Europe and a LIFE project was undertaken for the restoration of clear water lakes, mires and swamp forests of the Lake Stechlin. On 22 March 2012 The Global Nature Fund announced Lake Stechlin as the "Living Lake of the Year 2012".

References

External links

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International Lake Environment Committee: Lake Stechlin
Lakes of Brandenburg Oberhavel LGrosserStechlinsee {{Brandenburg-geo-stub