Millstätter See

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Millstätter See Lake Millstatt


Location	Carinthia
Coordinates	46°48′N 13°36′ECoordinates: 46°48′N 13°36′E
Lake type	glacial lake
Primary inflows	Riegenbach
Primary outflows	Seebach to Lieser river
Catchment area	285 km²
Basin countries	Austria
Max. length	12 km
Max. width	1.8 km
Surface area	13.3 km²
Average depth	89 m
Max. depth	142 m
Water volume	1.205 km³
Residence time (of lake water)	7.5 years
Surface elevation	588 m
Settlements	Seeboden, Millstatt, Döbriach

Lake Millstatt (German: Millstätter See, sometimes written "Millstättersee") is an alpine lake in Carinthia, Austria.

[edit] General facts

Lake Millstatt is situated in the Central Eastern Alps, near the town of Spittal an der Drau. With a surface area of 13.3 km² it is the second largest lake of Carinthia (after Lake Wörth), though with 142 metres by far the deepest and most voluminous. Its steep shore gives the lake a fjord-like character. The mountains in the north are up up to 2,100 metres high and protect it from cold winds, so the water temperature at the surface can reach 25 °C in summer. The narrow and long basin stretches over 12 km from east to west. In the south the wooded Hochgosch plateau with a breadth of 2 km and an elevation of 900 metres divides the lake from the parallel Drava valley.

Catfish caught in the lake about 1890

The name derives from the market town Millstatt at the northern shore. Other municipalities near the lake are Seeboden and Radenthein-Döbriach. The shaded southern shore, a protected area since 1970, is almost uninhabited. Since 1901 ship transport in summer is provided by the Millstättersee Shipping Company, which today runs four vessels.

Numerous brooks flow into the lake, of which the Riegerbach near Döbriach is the biggest. At the western end of the lake the short Seebach stream leads the water into the Lieser river, which itself is a tributary of the Drava. The oligotrophic lake with its deep basin has a large hypolimnic volume and meromictic waters, which are clear and reach drinking water quality. Fishery, especially for trout, had been a source of food and work for residents since ancient times. Today sport fishing and angling is quite common not only for trout but also for several genera of carps, for wels catfish, northern pike, zander, perch and the european eel.