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Walchensee
Walchensee or Lake Walchen is one of the deepest and largest alpine lakes in Germany, with a maximum depth of 192.3 metres (631 ft) and an area of 16.4 square kilometres (6.3 sq mi). The lake is 75 kilometres (47 mi) south of Munich in the middle of the Bavarian Alps. The entire lake, including the island of Sassau, is within the municipality of Kochel. The lake and island are owned by the Bavarian State. To the east and the south, the lake borders the municipality of Jachenau.
The name Walchen comes from Middle High German and means "strangers". All Roman and romanized peoples of the Alps south of Bavaria were known to the locals as Welsche or even Walche. This is also true of the etymology of the Swiss Lake Walen and the Salzburg Wallersee.
Another possible interpretation is that it comes from the Latin Lacus vallensis, meaning "lake in a valley". On 16th-century maps, the lake is also labelled dicto Italico, meaning "leading to Italy"[citation needed], probably because the route through the Walchensee valley led through Mittenwald and Innsbruck to Italy.
Walchensee fills a tectonic valley, part of the Bayerisches Synklinorium (Bavarian Syncline) and from rocks of the Triassic period (the main dolomite, Plattenkalke, and Kössener layers). The extreme depth of the lake, 192.3 metres (631 ft), is the result of this tectonic formation. The rock faces of the northwestern shore clearly show the steep arrangement of the rock layers. The creation of the lake from the forces of mountain building indicate that Walchensee could be one of the oldest lakes in Germany. During the ice age, the Isar–Loisach glacier repeatedly left its mark on the morphology of the area and thereby the Walchensee.
The lake has a shoreline of approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) and contains 1.3 cubic kilometres (0.31 cu mi) of water. The Jachen is the natural outflow of the lake, eastwards through the valley of Jachenau to the Isar. Obernach is the largest natural inflow to the lake, entering from the southwest. Together with the artificial inflow (see "Peculiarities"), the lake has a catchment basin of 780 square kilometres (300 sq mi).
Walchensee lies at 802 metres (2,631 ft) above sea level. It is surrounded by wooded mountains. To the northwest stands the Herzogstand–Heimgarten group at 1,731 metres (5,679 ft) and 1,790 metres (5,870 ft) respectively and to the west is the valley of the Eschenlaine. The south side of the Eschenlaine valley is the Simetsberg (1,836 metres/6,024 ft), which is the end of the Ester Mountains. To the south of the lake, the Altlacher Hochkopf separates Walchensee from the valley of the Isar. On the eastern shore lies the Jachenau, a long alpine valley that stretches in the direction of Lenggries. The northeast is dominated by the Benediktenwand. A little further to the west is Jochberg (1,565 metres/5,135 ft), which completes the valley wall. Between Herzogstand and Jochberg is little Kesselberg, which because of its relatively low prominence appears as a depression between the two higher peaks, but actually separates Walchensee from Kochelsee, 200 metres (660 ft) below.
Directly on the west bank of the lake is the tiny Luftkurort settlement of Walchensee, with only about 600 inhabitants. Walchensee belongs to the municipality of Kochel as do the yet smaller settlements of Urfeld at the northern tip of the lake, Zwergen on the western shore, and the houses of Einsiedl am Walchensee on the orographic left bank of the Obernach at the far southwestern end of the lake. The houses of Einsiedl am Walchensee on the right bank of the Obernach and Altlach on the southern shore, the farmsteads of Matheis, Christopher, and Breitort, Sachenbach on the east shore, and Niedernach in the far southwest, belong to the municipality of Jachenau. Between the settlements of Walchensee and Einsiedl, the 1.4-square-kilometre (0.54 sq mi) Katzenkopf peninsula reaches 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) into the lake. The settlement of Zwergen lies on this peninsula.
The surface of the lake forms a north-facing triangle, with the southern shore forming a 6.9-kilometre (4.3 mi) base from Einsiedl to Niedernach and the height reaching 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Breitort to Urfeld.
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Walchensee
Walchensee or Lake Walchen is one of the deepest and largest alpine lakes in Germany, with a maximum depth of 192.3 metres (631 ft) and an area of 16.4 square kilometres (6.3 sq mi). The lake is 75 kilometres (47 mi) south of Munich in the middle of the Bavarian Alps. The entire lake, including the island of Sassau, is within the municipality of Kochel. The lake and island are owned by the Bavarian State. To the east and the south, the lake borders the municipality of Jachenau.
The name Walchen comes from Middle High German and means "strangers". All Roman and romanized peoples of the Alps south of Bavaria were known to the locals as Welsche or even Walche. This is also true of the etymology of the Swiss Lake Walen and the Salzburg Wallersee.
Another possible interpretation is that it comes from the Latin Lacus vallensis, meaning "lake in a valley". On 16th-century maps, the lake is also labelled dicto Italico, meaning "leading to Italy"[citation needed], probably because the route through the Walchensee valley led through Mittenwald and Innsbruck to Italy.
Walchensee fills a tectonic valley, part of the Bayerisches Synklinorium (Bavarian Syncline) and from rocks of the Triassic period (the main dolomite, Plattenkalke, and Kössener layers). The extreme depth of the lake, 192.3 metres (631 ft), is the result of this tectonic formation. The rock faces of the northwestern shore clearly show the steep arrangement of the rock layers. The creation of the lake from the forces of mountain building indicate that Walchensee could be one of the oldest lakes in Germany. During the ice age, the Isar–Loisach glacier repeatedly left its mark on the morphology of the area and thereby the Walchensee.
The lake has a shoreline of approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) and contains 1.3 cubic kilometres (0.31 cu mi) of water. The Jachen is the natural outflow of the lake, eastwards through the valley of Jachenau to the Isar. Obernach is the largest natural inflow to the lake, entering from the southwest. Together with the artificial inflow (see "Peculiarities"), the lake has a catchment basin of 780 square kilometres (300 sq mi).
Walchensee lies at 802 metres (2,631 ft) above sea level. It is surrounded by wooded mountains. To the northwest stands the Herzogstand–Heimgarten group at 1,731 metres (5,679 ft) and 1,790 metres (5,870 ft) respectively and to the west is the valley of the Eschenlaine. The south side of the Eschenlaine valley is the Simetsberg (1,836 metres/6,024 ft), which is the end of the Ester Mountains. To the south of the lake, the Altlacher Hochkopf separates Walchensee from the valley of the Isar. On the eastern shore lies the Jachenau, a long alpine valley that stretches in the direction of Lenggries. The northeast is dominated by the Benediktenwand. A little further to the west is Jochberg (1,565 metres/5,135 ft), which completes the valley wall. Between Herzogstand and Jochberg is little Kesselberg, which because of its relatively low prominence appears as a depression between the two higher peaks, but actually separates Walchensee from Kochelsee, 200 metres (660 ft) below.
Directly on the west bank of the lake is the tiny Luftkurort settlement of Walchensee, with only about 600 inhabitants. Walchensee belongs to the municipality of Kochel as do the yet smaller settlements of Urfeld at the northern tip of the lake, Zwergen on the western shore, and the houses of Einsiedl am Walchensee on the orographic left bank of the Obernach at the far southwestern end of the lake. The houses of Einsiedl am Walchensee on the right bank of the Obernach and Altlach on the southern shore, the farmsteads of Matheis, Christopher, and Breitort, Sachenbach on the east shore, and Niedernach in the far southwest, belong to the municipality of Jachenau. Between the settlements of Walchensee and Einsiedl, the 1.4-square-kilometre (0.54 sq mi) Katzenkopf peninsula reaches 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) into the lake. The settlement of Zwergen lies on this peninsula.
The surface of the lake forms a north-facing triangle, with the southern shore forming a 6.9-kilometre (4.3 mi) base from Einsiedl to Niedernach and the height reaching 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Breitort to Urfeld.