Bald Lake District

Typical sandy slopes on the Kahler Campingsee

The Kahler Seenplatte is a system of lakes around the municipalities Großkrotzenburg , Kahl am Main and Karlstein am Main . It is therefore in the border area between the Bavarian district of Aschaffenburg and the Hessian Main-Kinzig district . With the exception of the Long Lake near Großwelzheim , this lake landscape was created from disused lignite, sand and gravel pits in the region and was redesigned in the middle of the 20th century into a leisure center for evening and weekend guests from the greater Frankfurt am Main , Hanau and Aschaffenburg area .

history

In 1882 Gustav Müller, director of a lignite union near Seligenstadt , found new lignite deposits in Bavarian territory around Karlstein and Kahl after test drilling on the opposite bank of the Main. The oldest pits are in the Karlstein district of Großwelzheim (opened in 1892); little by little the others were added. In 1902 Müller founded the "Zeche Gustav" with an attached briquette factory , which expanded to over 1000 employees by the early 1920s.

On the eve of the global economic crisis , open-cast lignite mining became unprofitable. The dwindling supplies had to be extracted from deeper and deeper layers, and this coal was of inferior quality. Strikes and labor disputes followed. All mines were closed by 1932; in the years that followed they slowly filled with water. In some pits, sand and gravel were mined until the 1950s (the term sand hare for the residents of Kahl comes from this time), until this branch of industry was also discontinued, so that more lakes were created.

The first lido was set up at Lake Freigericht-West in 1936. It was not until the inauguration of the large camping colony on Lake Freigericht-Ost in 1959 that the new era of this region as a local recreation area began.

The Bald Lakes

Großwelzheim bathing lake

The northernmost lakes, Schloßsee , Lindensee and Weihertannensee , belong to Emmerichshofen Castle as a private property and are surrounded by an extensive forest area with a quiet holiday home colony.
The south adjoining lake Freigericht-Ost , also just called the Baltic Sea , is commonly known as the Kahler Campingsee . The "Freigericht", however, refers to the historical Freigericht , a territory in the Middle Ages to which Kahl belonged.
The federal road 8 separates this lake from the west adjoining lake Freigericht-West , also just called Westsee , popularly known as Großkrotzenburger See . These lakes are connected underground and are fed from several sources. This explains their high water quality even in the high season.
The Christnersee emerged from one of the smallest pits at the Kahler train station. It is increasingly threatened with silting up and is therefore unsuitable for swimming. The leaseholder is the local fishing club.
The Waldsee , where the Kahler Waldseebad is located today , emerged from the Emma-Nord opencast mine .

To the south is the former lignite mine of the same name as Lake Emma-Süd , which is now occupied by the Hornsee ; its banks are privately owned and inaccessible. The confluence of the Kahl and the Main is located south of the lake .

To the south of Kahl is the Großwelzheimer bathing lake , also called Weißsee . It was named after Karl Steiner district Großwelzheim in whose district he is. There is a medium-sized campsite with 400 pitches with a sandy beach, mini golf course and snack bar. A section of the lake belongs to the local fishing club from 1967. A gravel pit is still in operation at the Ostend.

Opposite, to the west of federal highway 8, is the Lange See, a natural monument, near the sports field. Created from a loop of the Urmain, it is the only natural lake in the lake district.

To the west of it, in the bend of the Main between power plants and agricultural areas, the Gustavsee lies in the core area of the former "Zeche Gustav". It is privately owned by RWE , which took over the closed lignite mine in 1928; its inaccessible banks are fenced off. The reed areas are a resting station for migratory birds and a spawning area for common toads , pond newts and edible frogs . The abandoned lignite power plant was converted into a hard coal power plant in 1938, an oil test power plant in 1963–65 and a gas power plant in 1974. In 2000, RWE AG gave up the location for lack of profitability. The overburden from the former open-cast mine was piled up to form a hill, which today forms a closed forest area with pines, birches, oaks and acacias. The street name An der Kipp in Großwelzheim along this hill is a reminder of this history of origin.

After-work and weekend tourism in the Kahler Seenplatte is concentrated on the two "Freigericht" lakes, East and West.

The Vorspessartseen

Landscape at the Vorspessart lakes

The night pasture east of Kahl and the Seewald on the Hörsteiner See lake to the south form a system of several former pits; the latter belong to the municipality of Alzenau. It is the largest lake in the Kahler Seenplatte.

To the northwest of this is the Nachtweidesee or Kahler See , also known locally as the Grießsee .

The Neufeldsee is located northeast of the Kahler See.

The calm shores of the waters, also known as the Vorspessartseen , are natural. Individualists will find bathing bays here without organized beach operations and a small network of bicycle and hiking trails. A section of the lake is privately owned by the Hörsteiner fishing club (founded in 1966).

Lake Freigericht-Ost = Kahler Campingsee

Long-term camper hut on Kahler See with allotment garden

The campsite with over 800 permanent parking spaces and 40 tourist sites is the largest leisure center in the region and one of the largest in Bavaria. It was opened on Whit Sunday 1959 after the Kahl era as an open-cast lignite mine (1928–1932) and gravel pit (1937–56) had ended. In the 2001 summer season, 42,500 guests were counted.

The permanent campers have partly surrounded their domiciles with small gardens and designed them individually like weekend houses. The lake shore has 1500 m of sandy beach. The original function as a sand pit can still be clearly seen on the steeply sloping slopes. The bathing operation is secured on the weekends in summer by the local water rescue service, the local Red Cross standby also maintains a first aid station; The complex also includes a mini golf course, a children's playground, a snack kiosk and an Italian restaurant. The view of E.ON AG's Staudinger coal-fired power station on the Main, with its cooling towers, clearly marks the location of the nearby recreation area within a large industrial area.

The bay north of the headland with a sailing home and small harbor is privately owned by Schloss Emmerichshofen ; part of his holiday home colony is adjacent. Here the bank is natural with reed vegetation and deciduous and pine forest.

The Canada goose was imported into the palace gardens in the 18th century, just like in other landscape parks in the area . Until 1997 she was only a winter guest; since then it has been breeding year after year on the wooden islands near the water watch. Besides mallards that there is also the other lakes, come here preferably Kingfisher , Bläßralle , grebes and warblers before.

The clubhouse of the local fishing club from 1946 is located on the western headland. Tench , pike , carp , moderlieschen and catfish live in the water .

Lake Freigericht-West = Großkrotzenburger See

Evening at Lake Großkrotzenburg

The lido, which was set up as a job creation measure under National Socialism and whose opening was propagated in the "Olympic year 1936", was redesigned in the 1960s to meet contemporary demands. The spacious green beach (lawn) included a mini golf course and a kiosk. At the end of the first decade of the new millennium, these dining facilities were rebuilt and a new restaurant with beer garden was built in place of the mini golf course. There are two other restaurants in the forest with reed vegetation on the east bank. The Bavarian-Hessian border runs in a north-south direction through the middle of the lake. Swans live next to mallards on the shore. There is a privately owned section on the north side. The sports clubs that maintain their activities on this lake are the oldest on the lake district (water sports club from 1926, fishing club from 1937). In long-distance swimming, the Hessian championships are held here every year.