Hallstatter See

Hallstatter See
View from the south over Lake Hallstatt
Geographical location	Salzkammergut , Upper Austria
Tributaries	Traun (here Koppentraun)
Drain	Traun
Places on the shore	Hallstatt , Bad Goisern , Obertraun
Data
Coordinates	47 ° 34 '43 "  N , 13 ° 39' 38"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 34 '43 "  N , 13 ° 39' 38"  E
Altitude above sea level	508  m above sea level A.
surface	8.55 km²
length	5.9 km
width	2.3 km
volume	0.558.1 km³
Maximum depth	125 m
Middle deep	65 m
PH value	8.2
Catchment area	646 km²
particularities	Hallstatt culture

The south bank near Obertraun

The Seeklause near Steeg

One square in front of Hallstatt

The Hallstätter See is a 8.5 km² lake in the Upper Austrian Salzkammergut , through which the Traun flows.

geography

The Hallstätter See is located at 508  m above sea level. A. at the northern foot of the Dachstein massif , in the east it is bounded by the Sarstein , in the west by the Plassen . The lake is 5.9 km long and 2.3 km wide. The west and east banks drop very steeply, only the banks in the north and south-east, where the Traun flows in and out, are flat. The fjord- like deep basin of the lake was formed by the Traungletscher during the Ice Ages .

The Gosaubach , which flows into the west, has created an alluvial cone that divides the lake into a northern basin with an area of ​​2 km² and a maximum depth of 44.5 m and a larger southern basin with an area of ​​6.5 km² and a maximum depth of 125 m Splits.

Other larger tributaries besides the Traun, which is responsible for 53% of the inflow, and the Gosaubach are the Waldbach near Lahn south of Hallstatt and the Zlambach in the north not far from the outflow. The Traun leaves the lake at the north end, where the water level is regulated by the Seeklause in Steeg . The mean discharge (series 1951–2010) is 36.0 m³ / s. The (theoretical) water renewal time is half a year. Due to the strong flow of the Traun, the water temperature is relatively low and rarely reaches more than 16 ° C even in summer. The Traun also ensures that the lake rarely completely freezes over in winter, mostly only the northern area has a closed ice cover.

The lake is located in the municipalities of Bad Goisern , Hallstatt and Obertraun . The historically significant town of Hallstatt is located directly on the western shore of the lake .

A ship line connects the village of Hallstatt with its train station across the lake . This ferry connection was Austria's only postal line by ship until 1980 and was also served by snowmobiles when the ice was thick at the lake.

Catchment area

Most of the catchment area of Lake Hallstatt lies in limestone . It is 646 km² and extends from 508  m above sea level. A. up to 2995  m above sea level A. The major part of the catchment area (88.9%) consists of forests and near-natural areas, only 6.2% is taken up by agricultural and 2.6% by built-up areas.

environment

Water quality

The visibility depth of Lake Hallstatt varies between little more than one and over 14 meters, with an average of 7.2 m in 2007–2010. It is heavily dependent on precipitation, low visibility depths are mainly due to mineral cloudiness after storms. The highest depths of visibility are usually measured after longer periods without precipitation, for example in winter and occasionally in midsummer.

The Mühlbach, in whose catchment area the Hallstatt salt deposits are located, often leads to high chloride concentrations in the lake. In the past, the lake was also affected by fertilizers that encouraged algae growth. In particular, high phosphorus concentrations led to increasing eutrophication towards the end of the 1970s . The lake has been significantly relieved by the construction of a sewage treatment plant and a pipeline and is now (as of 2011) classified as oligotrophic .

The chloride pollution of the lake was also initially reduced by a modified salt mining process. In October 2005 there was a line break in the higher salt mine , as a result of which about 11,000 cubic meters of brine (equivalent to 4000 tons of salt, according to other sources 3000 tons) flowed into the lake via the Mühlbach . Because of the higher density of the salt water, it sank into the depths. The difference in density was so great that the lake initially became meromictic because the natural mixing forces were insufficient to lift the heavy salt water from the depths. The habitat of small organisms and fish, such as the arctic char, was limited as a result. Small eddies at the barrier layer known as chemocline reduced the difference over several years; Since 2012, the deep water has been enriched with oxygen again and the meromictic phase has ended.

flora

While there is no vegetation on the banks of the steep banks, where the rock faces drop directly into the lake, the flat banks and especially the wet meadows and silting bogs in the north and south offer an ecologically valuable habitat for numerous rare animal and plant species.

Smaller alluvial forests with willows and alders can be found in the estuary areas .

The eastern devil's bite ( Succisella inflexa ) occurs in Upper Austria, next to Lake Traunsee, only on Lake Hallstatt near the Gosau mill and near Obertraun. The gloss stendel , an endangered and strictly protected orchid, grows on the wet meadows near Steeg on the north bank. There you can also find the also endangered dwarf hedgehog .

In the lake, especially in the estuary, there is submerged vegetation with hair-leaved water crowfoot , swamp pond thread , spawning herbs and candelabrum algae .

fauna

The reed belts are breeding areas for various water birds, in the wet meadows there are bird species such as reed bunting , red-backed shrimp and stonechat . The Steeger Bay is an important wintering place for numerous water birds, and in the summer moulting place for herons and pochards . The drainage ditches in the wet meadows near Steeg serve various amphibian species as spawning waters.

The main fish species found in the lake include pike , brown trout , arctic char , reinanke , eel rod , perch and lake trout . The eel did not originally appear, but was used or introduced.

use

In addition to fishing (between 7.5 and 10 tons per year), tourism uses the lake, be it for bathing and diving or for trips with the typical single-row Salzkammergut boats, the so-called plattens . Since the lake in the lower (northern) part (near Bad Goisern / Steeg) often freezes over in winter, it is also used for winter sports. On the east bank across from Hallstatt is the Salzkammergutbahn station of the same name , from which you can take a boat to Hallstatt.

The lake (including large areas of the shore) is owned by the Austrian Federal Forests , which fulfill their task of preserving the lake for the general public. This is important for the preservation of the Hallstatt World Heritage Site and for the lake access (free in many places). Small use of the lake - such as manual water scooping - is generally permitted, there are bathing areas and the possibility of diving is regulated. Around 1980 Lake Hallstatt was a popular diving spot in Austria.

A sea ​​procession takes place annually on Corpus Christi . In addition to the Mutzen , on which the altar and priest are located, many boats decorated with flowers cross the lake.

Another highlight is the Hallstättersee circuit , a half marathon with international participation , which takes place every year at the beginning of May .

shipping

The Hallstatt in 2012

Passenger shipping on Lake Hallstatt has been in operation since 1862. Since 1881 there has been a ferry service from Hallstatt-Markt on the west bank to the Hallstatt train station on the east bank. For a long time, this route was Austria's only transport line for mail, which was regularly handled as a ship line (and when the ice was carried (also) by horn sledge ). In the 1990s, when the post office increasingly switched from rail to truck, this post line across the lake was discontinued. This approximately 1 km short ferry route Markt Hallstatt - Hallstatt train station is Austria's only line on a lake that is operated daily throughout the winter.

The Hallstättersee Schifffahrt Hemetsberger GmbH has been operating since autumn 1967. In April 2015, the fleet consisting of the motor ships “Hallstatt”, “Goisern II”, “Stefanie II” and “Dachstein” was expanded to include a new, 27.80 m long and 6.80 m wide passenger ship In 2015 it was given the name “Hallstatt” again like the older ship of the same name, the modernization of which was no longer worthwhile. Only the "Goisern II" came ready from the Netherlands, all the other ships came from Austria, unpainted and undeveloped, because the father of today's managing director Karoline Hemetsberger took care of the expansion himself in Hallstatt.

The new ship came as a new build from the ÖSWAG shipyard in Linz, was test-driven and partially dismantled and transported on the road. The ship was lifted into the lake in Steeg at the landing stage.

Research drilling

On June 20, 2016, ongoing drilling was reported from an approximately 6 × 6 m pontoon into the bottom of the lake. At two points in the middle of the lake, pipe rods are used to drill two core holes 20 m deep into the sediment at a depth of 120 m . The drill cores were brought up in 2 m long pieces and examined geologically and biologically. Floods create stronger mineral deposits, pollen and other parts of plants sink in amounts that vary with the seasons. The analyzes should also contribute to a better understanding of human history as far back as the Paleolithic . The platform was developed in Austria, the Natural History Museum (NHM) Vienna , the University of Innsbruck and the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (D) are involved in the interdisciplinary project.

Web links

Commons : Hallstätter See  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Province of Upper Austria - Lake Hallstatt
• Lake Hallstatt circuit

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Federal Office for Water Management (Hrsg.): Atlas of the natural lakes of Austria with an area ≥ 50 ha. Morphometry - Typing - Trophy. As of 2005. Series of publications by the Federal Office for Water Management, Volume 29, Vienna 2008, pp. 72–74 ( PDF; 9 MB )
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Seeprofile Hallstättersee ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 442 kB) 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Office of Upper Austria. Provincial government (ed.): Nature and landscape / models for Upper Austria. Volume 31: Salzkammergut-Talungen room unit. Revised Version, Linz 2007 ( PDF; 5.2 MB )
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Office of Upper Austria. Provincial government (Ed.): Water protection report 20/1998: The lakes of Upper Austria - Status report 1994 and long-term development since 1980, partly updated up to and including 1997. ( PDF; 13.6 MB )
5. ↑ Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (ed.): Hydrographisches Jahrbuch von Österreich 2010. 118th volume. Vienna 2012, p. OG 169, PDF (12.6 MB) on bmlrt.gv.at (2010 yearbook)
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} Federal Office for Water Management (Ed.): The water quality of selected lakes in the Upper Austrian and Styrian Salzkammergut 2001 - 2005. Series of publications by the Federal Office for Water Management, Volume 24, Vienna 2006 ( PDF; 8 MB ( Memento of the original from December 19 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ) 
7. ↑ http://www.pressetext.de/pte.mc?pte=051031016
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Office of Upper Austria. Provincial government (publisher): Mapping of natural areas in Upper Austria - Biotope mapping of the municipality of Obertraun . Final report, Kirchdorf an der Krems 2012 ( PDF; 12.1 MB )
9. ^ Office of Upper Austria. Provincial government (Ed.): Mapping of natural areas Upper Austria - biotope mapping of the municipality of Hallstatt . Final report, Kirchdorf an der Krems 2011 ( PDF; 8.2 MB )
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Office of Upper Austria. State government (ed.): Landscape survey of the Bad Goisern municipality . Final report, Kirchdorf an der Krems 2004 ( PDF; 4.4 MB )
11. ^ Upper Austrian State Fisheries Association
12. ↑ http://salzburg.orf.at/news/stories/2706280/ Ship transport via the Lammertal, ORF.at April 20, 2015. Accessed April 21, 2015.
13. ↑ http://www.hallstattschifffahrt.at/schifffahrt/schifffahrt.html Our new passenger ship, website of the Hallstättersee Schifffahrt Hemetsberger GmbH, accessed on April 21, 2015
14. ↑ http://science.orf.at/stories/2781184/ With the drill into the Stone Age, June 20, 2016, accessed on June 20, 2016.