Chiemsee

For the municipality, see Chiemsee (municipality). For the bishopric, see Bishopric of Chiemsee.

Chiemsee
Location	Bavaria
Coordinates	47°53′24″N 12°28′12″E / 47.89°N 12.47°E / 47.89; 12.47Coordinates: 47°53′24″N 12°28′12″E / 47.89°N 12.47°E / 47.89; 12.47
Lake type	Natural lake
Basin countries	Germany
Surface area	79.9 km²
Max. depth	72.7 m
Water volume	2,048 mio m³
Shore length1	63.96 km
Surface elevation	518.19 m
Islands	(Herreninsel, Fraueninsel, Krautinsel, Schalch)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Chiemsee (German pronunciation: [ˈkiːmzeː]) is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, between Rosenheim, Germany, and Salzburg, Austria. It is often called the Bavarian Sea. The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake; the river Alz, out of it. The Chiemsee is divided into the bigger, north section, in the northeast, called Weitsee, and the Inselsee, in the southwest.

The region around the Chiemsee is Chiemgau and is a famous recreation area.

Islands

Two of the main islands on the lake are Herrenchiemsee (biggest island) and Frauenchiemsee, also called Herreninsel (gentleman's island) and Fraueninsel (lady's island), respectively. The third main island, Krautinsel (herb island), is smaller than Frauenchiemsee and is uninhabited.

• Herrenchiemsee has a palace built by King Ludwig II in 1878, also called Herrenchiemsee, which was never completed but was meant to be a replica of the Palace of Versailles, in France. Many of the rooms of the castle are open to tourists; tours of the castle and its extensive grounds on the island are conducted throughout the summer.

• Frauenchiemsee is the smaller of the two major islands on the Chiemsee, and houses a Benedictine nunnery, built in 782, as well as a small village. The nuns make a liquor called Klosterlikör (cloister liquor) and a very good marzipan (almond paste).

There are also three very small islands: the Schalch, to the west of Frauenchiemsee; and two unnamed islands, 54 and 80 meters south of the Krautinsel, with an area of 30 m² each.

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  Fraueninsel in winter

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  Fraueninsel with convent

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  Krautinsel

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  Herreninsel

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  Chiemsee in winter

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  Chiemsee in autumn

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  Chiemsee in summer

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  view from the Alps

External links

• Nixdorf, B.; et al. (2004), "Chiemsee" (in German), Dokumentation von Zustand und Entwicklung der wichtigsten Seen Deutschlands, Berlin: Umweltbundesamt, pp. 17, http://www-docs.tu-cottbus.de/gewaesserschutz/public/projekte/uba_2/11_bayern.pdf#page=17 
• Travel guide of Chiemsee on Wikivoyage
• Ferienhaus am Chiemsee