The

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 large ...

Brennersee is a lake in

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

that lies approximately 1.15 km north of the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...

, 1,310 metres above sea level. With an area of approximately 19 ha, it is the biggest lake in the

Wipptal The Wipp Valley (german: Wipptal) is an Alpine valley in Tyrol, Austria and in South Tyrol, Italy, running between Innsbruck and Franzensfeste. The Brenner Pass (1,374 m) at the Austro-Italian border divides it into the northern, Austrian Lower ...

. The lake can be explored by motorway A13 or by local train from

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

. Although the lake is always open to public for bathing, the water barely warms up to 12 °C, even in midsummer. In addition, the basin and motorway often conceal the sun, and the proximate environment is chilly. The

Sill River The Sill is a river in Tyrol, Austria. It is one of the larger tributaries of the Inn in Tyrol. It flows north through the Wipptal to Innsbruck. Its source lies east of the Brenner Pass. At the - the name of the point where it meets the Inn at ...

provides the lake with fresh water and drains it at the same time. The cold water fluctuates between A and B grade quality and accommodates various kinds of

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

. An

alga Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mi ...

curtain on the lake floor gives the water a predominantly jade colour.

References

Lakes of Tyrol (state) LBrennersee {{Tyrol-geo-stub