Weßlinger See

Glacial lake in Starnberg district of Bavaria

48°4′28″N 11°15′3″E / 48.07444°N 11.25083°E / 48.07444; 11.25083TypeGlacial lakeCatchment area1.4 square kilometres (0.54 sq mi)Basin countriesGermanyMax. length0.70 kilometres (0.43 mi)Max. width0.24 kilometres (0.15 mi)Surface area0.17 square kilometres (0.066 sq mi)Average depth7 metres (23 ft)Max. depth12 metres (39 ft)Water volume1,047,000 cubic metres (37,000,000 cu ft)Surface elevation590 metres (1,940 ft)

The Weßlinger See (lit.Tooltip literal translation 'Lake Weßling') is the smallest lake in the Fünfseenland (lit.Tooltip literal translation 'five lakes country') in Upper Bavaria. It is completely enclosed by the municipality of Weßling.

Overview

Lake Weßling is a remnant of a kettle hole created during the Würm glaciation. It has no natural tributary, and due to the use of fertilizers in the catchment area it was close to becoming hypoxic in the 20th century. To counter this problem an oxygen pump was installed in the middle of the lake in the 1970s, which has significantly improved the ecologic balance.^[1]

Due to its small size and lack of a natural tributary, regionally it is usually one of the warmest lakes in summer and the first lake to freeze over in winter. Especially in summer this means the lake attracts numerous visitors from the Munich Metropolitan Region. Starting in the 19th century, the scenic setting within the Bavarian Alpine Foreland has also attracted several painters and sculptors (e.g. Carl Schuch, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Wilhelm Trübner, see Gallery) to the town of Weßling^[2]