Chiemsee

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 Zungenbecken). Originally the lake covered an area of almost 240 sqkm, which is about three times its present area. Within 10,000 years its area had shrunk to around 80 sqkm. Before 1904 the water level was lowered by about a metre. As a result, large areas of dry land were reclaimed.

Islands

There are three main islands on the lake: Herreninsel ("gentlemen's island"), the largest, with an area of 238 ha; Frauenchiemsee, 15.5 ha, also called Fraueninsel ("ladies' island"); and the uninhabited Krautinsel ("cabbage island"),

• Herreninsel has a palace built by King Ludwig II in 1878 called Herrenchiemsee, 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 Klosterlikör ("cloister liquor") and marzipan (almond paste).

The smallest island in the lake is the Schalch 66 m west of Frauenchiemsee, which is of square outline, with a side length of only 4.7 m or an area of 22 m². 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.

File:chiemsee010.jpg|View across the Chiemsee with the Chiemgau Alps in the background File:Chiemsee Fraueninsel 323.jpg|Herreninsel with the former Monastery "Kloster Herrenchiemsee" https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Herrenchiemsee File:Aerial image of the Fraueninsel.jpg|Fraueninsel with Monastery "Frauenchiemsee" https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Frauenchiemsee in the foreground File:Chiemsee021.jpg|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. The building is now an orthopaedic clinic.

References

References

1. "Chiemsee".
2. {{cite EB1911
3. "Archived copy".
4. "AFRC resort at Chiemsee closes its doors".