Großer Arbersee, Glacial lake in Bayerisch Eisenstein, Germany
The Großer Arbersee is a glacial lake in the mountains near Bayerisch Eisenstein, stretching about 900 meters long and 230 meters wide. The water sits at roughly 919 meters elevation and is surrounded by steep, forested slopes that rise on several sides.
The lake formed during the last Ice Age when glacial movement carved a deep basin into the landscape. The steep rock walls surrounding the water are the result of these ice-age processes that shaped the mountains thousands of years ago.
The Arberseehaus on the shore traces its name to a first guesthouse built in 1905; that building was demolished in October 2016 and a new wooden house opened in June 2018. Its plan follows the 1904 building plan, with round-arched windows and doors and mosaic windows. Until 2015 a fairy-tale park founded in 1970 stood next to the lake.
A marked trail circles the lake, partly on stony and often wet paths and on boardwalks through the moor; the Seewand ascent to the summit is closed. The reserve bans boating, swimming and cycling, and dogs must be kept on a leash. The lake lies directly beside a busy state road and draws around half a million visitors a year.
Two large areas of Schwingrasen survive in the western part of the lake, 1.4 hectares in the southwest and 0.8 hectares in the northwest. Unlike the floating islands of the Kleiner Arbersee, these mats are joined to the shore, yet they have no solid connection to the lake bed. In 1899 much of the overgrowth was blasted away and hauled ashore to stop the water silting up.
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