Bernsteinsee, Artificial lake in Sassenburg, Germany.
Bernsteinsee is a 9.5-hectare artificial lake near Stüde in Sassenburg, formed in 1971 as a borrow pit for the Elbe Lateral Canal. It is roughly an isosceles triangle, up to 16 metres deep, with no surface inflows. Its northeast shore is a broad beach of fine white sand; on sunny days the water appears turquoise over the sandy bottom.
The lake was dug in 1971 as a borrow pit for the Elbe Lateral Canal: about half a million cubic metres of sand were needed to build the six-metre canal embankments near Stüde. Dredging brought amber to the surface, which gave the lake its name. In 1971 Hilfred Schönberger bought the water and some 100 hectares of surrounding pine forest, and since 2009 Baucon Immobilien Management of Cologne has continued developing the site.
The lake's name comes from the amber (Bernstein) that surfaced during dredging by a floating excavator. Since 1971 it has been a summer resort; today the private leisure area around the lake offers a water-ski facility and dining, while the beach is used for swimming.
The lake lies beside the Elbe Lateral Canal at the edge of Stüde, about 15 km from both Gifhorn and Wolfsburg. Its northeast side opens onto a wide beach of fine white sand; the water is up to 16 m deep and has no surface inflows. The roughly 32-hectare leisure area with beach and hotel is privately owned and run for tourism, with overnight stays, restaurants and a water-ski facility on site.
The lake's name comes from amber (Bernstein) that surfaced during dredging by a floating excavator; the sand was dug to build the six-metre embankments of the Elbe Lateral Canal in 1970. Around half a million cubic metres of sand were needed, and the flooded pit opened as a bathing lake in summer 1971.
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