The Bauerngraben, also called the Hungersee, is a lake in Germany between

Breitungen Breitungen (official name: ''Breitungen/Werra'') is a municipality in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Werra, southeast of Bad Salzungen Bad Salzungen () is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It i ...

, and

Roßla Roßla (also: ''Rossla'') is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Südharz. From 1706–1803, Rossla was the seat of Stolberg-Rossl ...

in the

South Harz South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. It is an

intermittent lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

of about in length and in width, into which the Glasebach disappears. A feature of this lake is its sudden disappearance from time to time, when the outlet opens due to the removal of material. The lake can then become dry for a long period. The Bauerngraben ist part of the ''Gipskarstlandschaft Questenberg''

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

. The

Karst Trail The Karst Trail (german: Karstwanderweg) is a marked and signed footpath that runs for over 250 kilometres between Förste in Lower Saxony and Pölsfeld in Saxony-Anhalt through the karst landscape of the Harz, South Harz in Germany. The path ru ...

runs through the area. The Bauerngraben is a popular destination for day trippers and is easy to reach due to the nearby car park and easy footpaths. There is a checkpoint (no. 213) in the

Harzer Wandernadel The Harzer Wandernadel is a system of hiking awards in the Harz mountains in central Germany. The hiker (or mountain biker) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping his or ...

hiking system by the lake.

External links

The Bauerngraben at karstwanderweg.de

Comprehensive report in Petermann's Geographische Mitteilungen, 1864
* Universal-lexikon Vol. 3, published by Heinrich August Pierer
extract from google books
Lakes of Saxony-Anhalt Harz Mansfeld-Südharz Karst formations of Germany {{MansfeldSüdharz-geo-stub