Mummelsee, Cirque lake in Black Forest, Germany

Mummelsee is a mountain lake in the Black Forest that sits in a bowl-shaped depression surrounded by steep slopes. The water stretches about 800 meters around its perimeter and drops to roughly 17 meters at its deepest point.

The basin formed during the last ice age when glaciers carved into the rock and then melted away, leaving this hollow behind. It is one of only seven remaining cirque lakes in the Black Forest and represents a rare remnant of that ancient period.

The lake's name is traced by the municipality of Seebach to "Mummeln", the vernacular word for white waterlilies once said to grow here in numbers; the yellow pond lily also carries the name. Legends tell of a nix, called "Mümmlein", who danced, sang and played with people at night, and of the King of the Mummelsee. Eduard Mörike's poem Die Geister am Mummelsee and August Schnezler's three poems draw on these tales.

Parking is at the southern shore, where the hotel, restaurants, shops and pedal boat rental stand. The barrier-free circular trail was rebuilt in 2014 and passes 18 sculptures of the Kunstpfad. Hiking buses run daily to Baden-Baden, Achern and Freudenstadt; the Westweg with its red diamond also passes the lake, and the Hornisgrinde is 1.5 km away with 120 m of climb.

The Kunstpfad am Mummelsee, installed in 1999 along the circular trail, presents 18 installations by international artists on the theme of nature, landscape and art. The trail was rebuilt barrier-free in 2014. The long-distance Westweg with its red diamond passes the lake, and the Hornisgrinde is 1.5 km away with 120 metres of ascent.