Chiemsee, Freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany
Chiemsee is a freshwater lake in Bavaria near Rosenheim, covering 79.9 square kilometres, making it the largest lake in Bavaria and the third largest in Germany. Its deepest point, the Unschuldige-Kinder-Grube, reaches 73.4 metres. The lake splits into the open Weitsee in the northeast and the Inselsee in the southwest, with the Chiemgau mountains rising to the south.
Glaciers carved the basin during the last ice age around 10,000 years ago, leaving a deep depression in the landscape. In medieval times, monasteries were founded on the islands that remain inhabited today, making the lake a religious and cultural center.
The name derives from the settlement of Chieming, first recorded in 790, and probably goes back to the personal name Chiemo, itself linked to the Celtic byname Chemus. Locals call the lake the Bavarian Sea. Only two of the three main islands are inhabited: Fraueninsel and Herreninsel; the Krautinsel is uninhabited and was cultivated with cabbages in the Middle Ages.
Boats run regularly from several docks around the lake, connecting the islands with the mainland. The warmer months between spring and autumn work best for swimming, walking along the shores, or sailing on the open water.
Fraueninsel houses a Benedictine convent from the year 782, where nuns still live and work today. The convent church from the 15th century stands among old gardens where nuns grow herbs for liqueurs and marzipan.
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