Achen Lake

Lake Achen (german: Achensee) is a lake north of Jenbach in Tyrol, Austria. It is the largest lake within the federal state, and has a maximal depth of 133 metres. Together with the Achen Valley it parts the Karwendel mountain range in the west from the Brandenberg Alps in the east.

Water quality is near drinking water, with sight up to 10 m below the surface. An alpine lake, water temperature is accordingly low, rarely above 20 °C. Its size and wind conditions make it suitable for windsurfing.

Eben am Achensee, Achenkirch, and Pertisau are municipalities on the lake. The Achensee and its hinterland serves as the model for the 'Tiernsee', setting of the Chalet School series of children's books by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer.

History

The city of Innsbruck bought the lake in 1919 from the St. Georgenberg-Fiecht Abbey, who had received it from the rulers of Schlitters around 1120.

Powerplant

Since 1924, the lake is managed by the Tiroler Wasserkraft AG (TIWAG), which was founded for this purpose.

Originally, its only outflow was the ''Achenbach'', feeding the Isar. Since 1927, when a power plant in Jenbach was finished, it primarily feeds the Inn, at a level difference of 380 m below. Eight pelton wheels at 500 RPM produce a total of 96 MW.

In winter, the level of the lake is lowered by up to 6 meters; accordingly the size of the lake keeps changing. At maximum level, the reservoir can store 66 million m³ of water.

Tourism

When the Lower Inn Valley Railway () railway was finished in 1859, tourism started to flourish. In order to make the abbey profit, the first steamboat ''St. Josef'' was acquired in 1887.
Furthermore the construction of the 7 km long Achenseebahn narrow gauge rack railway was initiated, which went into service in 1889 between Jenbach and ''Seespitz''. On 21 July that year a second steamboat, the ''St. Benedikt'', went into service. In 1890 the two boats with a capacity of 320 seats transported about 30,000 persons.

In 1911 a third scheduled boat, the ''Stella Maris'' went into service. It was the first passenger boat on a lake in the Danubian monarchy originally equipped with a diesel engine. The boat was designed for 400 passengers, and featured a particularly silent engine at low rpm, similar to those that later were used in the submarines of World War I.

However, the ''Stella Maris'' was difficult to manoeuvre. When the lake was bought by the city of Innsbruck in 1919, the boat was renamed into ''Stadt Innsbruck''. In 1925 a motorboat named ''Tirol'' was acquired, and in 1927 for the first time more than 100,000 persons were transported.

In 1959 the ''St. Benedikt'' was replaced with a modern ship of the same name with a diesel engine. In 1971 the ''Tirol'' was replaced with a larger ''Tirol II'' for 40 passengers. In 1994 the ''MS Tirol'' went into service, replacing the ''Stadt Innsbruck'', and in August 2007 the ''MS Stadt Innsbruck'' replaced the ''St. Benedikt''.

Gallery

Image:Achensee Seespitz um 1900.jpg, Seespitz about 1900
Image:achensee_winter.jpg, Achensee in winter
Image:Pertisau_Achensee.jpg, View from mountain top of Big Unnütz towards Pertisau (SW)
Image:Achenseekraftwerk_Inntal_Jenbach_Tirol.jpg, Achenseekraftwerk in Inntal valley
Image:Achenseebahn Seespitz.jpg, Achenseebahn with steam boat St. Benedikt (II)

Notes and references

Literature

* Naupp, Thomas OSB und Pinggera, Dr. Gert-Klaus: ''Stiftsmuseum Fiecht, Dokumente zur Geschichte von St. Georgenberg-Fiecht'' (Katalog)
* Armbruster, Karl; Pawlik, Hans Peter: ''Jenbach – Achensee. Die Tiroler Zahnradbahn.'' Slezak Verlag, Wien 1993; 96 S.

External links

Achensee powerplant
architecture archive

{{Authority control

Lakes of Tyrol (state)
Reservoirs in Austria