Lake Chiemsee

With an area of 80 km² and a shoreline of 64 km, it is the largest lake in Bavaria, is popularly known as the ‘Bavarian Sea’ and is considered the most beautiful bathing lake in Germany.

Lake Chiemsee is located in the foothills of the Alps, nestled gently between hills and facing the magnificent panorama of the Chiemgau Alps. It was formed around 10,000 years ago as a glacial erosion and originally covered an area of around 240 km². Its islands, Fraueninsel and Herreninsel with the famous Herrenchiemsee Palace, are tourist highlights and can both be reached by boat from Gstadt in around 10 minutes or as part of a Chiemsee tour. The two smaller islands of Lake Chiemsee, Krautinsel (3.5 hectares) and Schalch (22 square metres), are uninhabited and not connected to the boat service. The delta of the Tiroler Ache near Übersee is also well worth seeing as part of an adventure boat trip, as is the outlet of Lake Chiemsee into the Alz in Seebruck.

Water temperature in Lake Chiemsee

Fishing on Lake Chiemsee

There are currently 16 professional fishermen who have been fishing on Lake Chiemsee for many generations. They have been organised in the Chiemsee Fishing Cooperative since 1850. The aim of the cooperative is to establish regulations for fishing on Lake Chiemsee and to secure fish stocks for the future. Even today, fishing on Lake Chiemsee is still a thriving industry and is passed down from generation to generation. Be sure to try one of the fish specialities freshly caught from the lake at one of the fishing businesses. You can find more information here.

The island “Fraueninsel”

Together with Herreninsel, Fraueninsel forms the smallest municipality in Bavaria in terms of population and the second smallest in terms of area. Around 230 inhabitants live on the islands, which cover a total area of 256.8 hectares. The car-free Fraueninsel is the second largest of the three islands in Lake Chiemsee and can be walked around in about 20 minutes. It is densely populated, with the ‘islanders’ mainly living from fishing, gastronomy, arts and crafts, and rentals. The centre of Fraueninsel is the approximately 1200-year-old Frauenwörth Abbey, a place of pilgrimage for St. Irmengard, the patron saint of Chiemgau, with its monastery church and Carolingian gate hall decorated with murals, the oldest building in southern Germany, which serves as a museum and exhibition venue for old Chiemsee painters in the summer. The monastery is a popular venue for seminars and workshops. In the ‘monastery shop’ you can buy homemade herbal products, the famous monastery liqueur, marzipan and gingerbread, and souvenirs. Fraueninsel offers a wide range of culinary delights: whether in one of Bavaria’s oldest inns or in one of the fishermen’s traditional beer gardens, there is a lovely spot waiting for you on the island, as there are more than enough of them.

The island Herreninsel

One of the highlights of a trip to Chiemgau is Herreninsel with its world-famous Herrenchiemsee Palace, which Ludwig II, also known as the Fairy Tale King, had built at the end of the 19th century as a replica of the Palace of Versailles. Whether you take a romantic carriage ride from the pier to the palace or stroll through the avenues on foot, there is plenty to marvel at: royal parks with sparkling water features and baroque splendour with a hall of mirrors and state rooms transport you into the world of the Fairy Tale King.

The second attraction next to the castle is the former monastery on Herreninsel, Herrenwörth, founded by Eustasius, abbot of Luxeuil Abbey (Burgundy) between 620 and 629. From its foundation until 1130, it was a Benedictine monastery, and from 1130 onwards, it was a collegiate church of the Augustinian Canons, which was dissolved during secularisation in 1803. The German constitution was drafted and signed in the convent wing of the Old Castle in August 1948. This can be traced in an extraordinary museum with two adjoining galleries, an exhibition of old Chiemsee painters and Julius Exter, as well as the magnificent Kaisersaal (Emperor’s Hall). These attractions are already included in the admission ticket for the castle.

The island Krautinsel

The third and smallest of our Chiemsee islands is the uninhabited Krautinsel, with an area of 3.5 hectares.. For centuries, it supplied vegetables and herbs to both monasteries. Today, it primarily serves as an alpine pasture on the water for sheep and is not accessible by boat.

Schalch

This presumably man-made island is located about 66 metres west of Fraueninsel and marks a dangerous shoal for sailing boats. Around 1935, the artists’ community on Fraueninsel planted a willow tree here, which unfortunately fell victim to a storm a few years ago and was replaced by a young willow tree.