Chiemsee

Location of Chiemsee in South Germany

Chiemsee (Template:IPA) is a freshwater lake in Bavaria,<ref name=EB1911>Template:Cite EB1911</ref> Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The Alz flows into the Inn which then merges with the Danube. The Chiemsee is divided into the bigger, north section, in the northeast, called Template:Lang, and the Template:Lang, in the southwest.

The Chiemgau, the region surrounding the Chiemsee, is a popular recreation area. Template:Clear

High resolution map of the lake within its surrounding region, Chiemgau

Origin

The Chiemsee was formed, like many other pre-alpine lakes, at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago from a hollow carved out by a glacier (a Template:Lang). Originally the lake covered an area of almost Template:Convert, which is about three times its present area. Within 10,000 years its area had shrunk to around Template:Convert. Before 1904 the water level was lowered by about a metre. As a result, large areas of dry land were reclaimed.Template:Citation needed

Islands

There are three main islands on the lake: Herreninsel ("gentlemen's island"), the largest, with an area of Template:Convert; Frauenchiemsee, Template:Convert, also called Fraueninsel ("ladies' island"); and the uninhabited Krautinsel ("cabbage island"),<ref name=EB1911/> Template:Convert, called by this name because in the Middle Ages it was cultivated with cabbages and other vegetables.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Herreninsel has a palace built by King Ludwig II in 1878 called Template:Lang, which was never completed but was meant to be a replica of the Palace of Versailles. Many of its rooms are open to tourists; tours of the palace and its extensive grounds are conducted throughout the summer.
• Frauenchiemsee, the smaller of the two main islands, houses a Benedictine nunnery, built in 782, as well as a small village. The nuns make a liquor called Template:Lang ("cloister liquor") and marzipan (almond paste).

The smallest island in the lake is the Template:Lang Template:Convert west of Frauenchiemsee, which is of square outline, with a side length of only Template:Convert or an area of Template:Convert. This tiny island had probably been created artificially to mark a shallow spot for sailboats. There is a willow on the island, originally planted in 1935, and replaced by a young tree in the 2000s.Template:Citation needed

• 
  View across the Chiemsee with the Chiemgau Alps in the background
• 
  Herreninsel with the former Monastery "Kloster Herrenchiemsee" [1]
• 
  Fraueninsel with Monastery "Frauenchiemsee" [2] in the foreground
• 
  Krautinsel with (right) a small part of the Herreninsel island and in the background the Chiemgau Alps

AFRC Lake Hotel

On 1 September 1938 the first Autobahn rest house opened on the A8 on the outskirts of Bernau am Chiemsee on the lake's southern shore. From 1945 until 2 September 2003 the building served as an Armed Forces Recreation Center for the US military, called the Lake Hotel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The building is now an orthopaedic clinic.Template:Citation needed

External links

• Template:Lakes Germany 2004