Altmühlsee

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The Altmühlsee (English: Lake Altmühl) is a reservoir in Germany. It is located in the district Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, approximately 44 km (27 mi) southwest of Nueremberg in the Bavarian region of Middle Franconia. It is part of the Franconian Lake District. The lake is filled up by flood crests from the Altmühl, which are transferred to the Altmühlsee via the Altmühlzuleiter, a 4.7 km (2.9 mi) long artificial river starting near Gern (Ornbau). The lake is situated in the wetlands of the former course of the Altmühl. It is 4 km (2.5 mi) long and up to 1.7 km (1.1 mi) wide and covers a total area of 4.5 km2 (1.7 sq mi). Despite its size, the lake is relatively shallow, with a maximum depth of only 3 m (9.8 ft). Altmühlsee can store up to 13.8 mil. km³ (3.3 mil. cu mi) of water. Half a kilometre north of the lake, there is the municipality Muhr am See, 1 km (0.62 mi) from the eastern shore there are residental areas belonging to the town of Gunzenhausen. Southwest of the lake, some smaller villages are only a few hundred meters away from shore. Remarkable is the lake's narrow eastern extension, near the Seezentrum Schlungenhof (Schlungenhof lake centre), in which the pier for the MS Altmühlsee ship is located. Furthermore, there is a clubhouse, respectively around 100 moorings and land-based berths, a jetty for small boats, a slipway, a boat crane, and a charging station for electric boats. Nearly half of the northwestern lake area is a nature reserve, 308 acres of this are a special sanctuary for birds. The 3.7 acre Hirteninsel (shepard's island) is located close to the lake's southern shore. On 16 July 1970, the Bavarian parliament decided to build the Franconian Lake District, of which the Altmühlsee is a part. The ground-breaking ceremony for the Altmühlüberleiter, the channel taking excess water from the Altmühlsee to the Kleiner Brombachsee, took place on 4 July 1974. Flooding of the Altmühlsee began in February 1985, later that same year draining of water to the Brombachsee was started. Since then, the so-called Brombachüberleitung (Brombach transition, consists of Altmühlsee, Altmühlüberleiter, Kleiner Brombachsee and Großer Brombachsee)

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