Ammersee

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Ammersee
Lake Ammer

winter 2006

map
Location Upper Bavaria
Coordinates 48°00′N 11°07′E / 48.000°N 11.117°E / 48.000; 11.117Coordinates: 48°00′N 11°07′E / 48.000°N 11.117°E / 48.000; 11.117
Primary inflows River Ammer
Primary outflows Amper
Catchment area 993.0 km²
Basin countries Germany
Max. length 16.2 km
Max. width 5 km
Surface area 46.6 km²
Average depth 37.8 m
Max. depth 81 m
Residence time 2.7 years
Surface elevation 520 m
Islands Schwedeninsel
Settlements Herrsching, Dießen am Ammersee

Ammersee (English: Lake Ammer) is a Zungenbecken lake in Upper Bavaria, Germany, southwest of Munich between the towns of Herrsching and Dießen am Ammersee. With a surface area of approximately 47 square kilometres (18 sq mi), it is the sixth largest lake in Germany. The lake is at an elevation of 520 metres (1,710 ft), and has a maximum depth of 81 metres (266 ft). Like other Bavarian lakes, Ammersee developed as a result of the ice age glaciers melting. Ammersee is fed by the River Ammer, which flows as the Amper out of the lake. Like neighbouring Lake Starnberg, which is similar in size and shape, it is a popular location for watersports.

Ammersee and the Amper are part of the ancient Celtic amber trading route leading to the Brenner Pass.

The word Ammer is a 13th-century form of Amper, the Celtic *ambra, deriving from the Indo-European *ombh-, *mbh- "wet, Water".[1]

Passenger services have operated on the lake since 1879. Today they are operated by the Bayerische Seenschifffahrt company, using a mixture of historic paddle steamers and motor ships.[2][3]

Ecology

The lake's water generally is of very good quality since a circular sewerage system has been introduced in the 1960s collecting all wastewater from around the lake and transporting it to a treatment plant below the lake's outlet at Eching.

The Ammersee is the home of the vulnerable species of deepwater char Salvelinus evasus.[4] Deepwater char are highly sensitive to changes in the quality of the water and some species such as Salvelinus neocomensis and Salvelinus profundus were driven recently to extinction in other European lakes.[5]

Gallery

  • Eastern shore

  • Autumn

  • Paddle Steamer Diessen on the lake

References

  1. ↑ Dieter Berger: Duden - Geographische Namen in Deutschland. 2nd ed., Dudenverlag, 1999, ISBN 978-3-411-06252-2.
  2. ↑ "Bayerische Seenschifffahrt". Bayerische Seenschifffahrt. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-11. 
  3. ↑ "Geschichtliche Hintergründe" [Historical Background] (in German). Bayerische Seenschifffahrt. Retrieved 2011-07-11. 
  4. ↑ Revue Suisse de Zoologie - Salvelinus evasus
  5. ↑ Red List - Volume 1: Vertebrates (2009) - General assessment for the vertebrate groups

External links

  • Media related to Ammersee at Wikimedia Commons


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