Chiemsee --- 23 Sep 2006

Chiemsee (IPA: [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.


[edit] Islands
Two of the main islands on the lake are Herrenchiemsee (biggest island) and Frauenchiemsee, also called Herreninsel (gentleman island) and Fraueninsel (woman island), respectively. The third main island, Krautinsel (weed island), is smaller than Frauenchiemsee and is uninhabited.

Herrenchiemsee has a castle 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 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.