Despite its name, the Dassower See (), sometimes called Lake Dassow or Dassow Bay in English, is not a

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 ...

, but a side bay, locally known as a ''wiek'', of the Trave Fjord, northeast of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

(

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

) on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

Geography

The town of

Dassow Dassow () is a town in the Nordwestmecklenburg district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on a bay of the Baltic Sea, 20 km east of Lübeck and 2 km south of Lübeck-Travemünde. It is also close to the cities o ...

in the district

Nordwestmecklenburg Nordwestmecklenburg (''Northwestern Mecklenburg'') is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north-western part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea and borders on Schleswig-Holstein to the west. Neighboring dis ...

is the only large settlement on the shores of the bay. The Dassower See is a saltwater bay, which together with the

Pötenitzer Wiek The Pötenitzer Wiek (also called Traveförde) is an eastern bay of the lower Trave east of the Priwall Peninsula, Germany. The bay is in Schleswig-Holstein while the bank partly forms the border with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Until the Second World ...

is almost fully cut off from the open sea and the

Bay of Lübeck The Bay of Lübeck (, ) is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. It forms the southwestern part of the Bay of Mecklenburg. The main port is Travemünde, a bor ...

by the

Priwall Peninsula The Priwall Peninsula (German: ''die Halbinsel Priwall'' or'' Der Priwall'') is a spit located across from the town of Travemünde at the Trave River estuary, on Germany's Baltic Sea coast. Since 1226 it has been administratively part of Travemü ...

. The bay is approximately in area and has a funnel-like shape extending outwards from the mouth of the River Stepenitz in the southeast and narrowing again in the northwest where it enters the

to approximately . At the mouth of the Stepenitz, near the

Dassow Bridge Dassow () is a town in the Nordwestmecklenburg district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on a bay of the Baltic Sea, 20 km east of Lübeck and 2 km south of Lübeck-Travemünde. It is also close to the cities o ...

, is a small landing stage for fishing boats from Dassow. The bay belongs to the city of Lübeck, and its entire shoreline forms part of the western border of

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

Flora and fauna

As home to approximately 30 kinds of duck, the Dassower See is one of the largest bird reserves in Germany. The lake provides refuge and is also an important migration and wintering area for Nordic water fowl that shelter on its two islands of grass and reeds. The entire shore of the Dassower See and the bay itself have been protected by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

since 1983.

History

Tourism and land development was not permitted until German reunification as the entire lakeshore range was a restricted area. The GDR had erected a wall, several metres high, along the shore, so the lake could not be seen from East Germany. Entering the prohibited area was possible only with special permission. The border runs along the flood line, so that during normal water levels a narrow strip along the bank belongs to Schleswig-Holstein which was part of the Federal Republic. Thus, boats could ply the Trave delta without hindrance.

Sights

The castle of Schloss Lütgenhof is situated on the shore of the Dassower See. Moritz von Paepcke designed and built this castle in 1839.

Mast-Jägermeister AG Mast-Jägermeister SE is a German liquor company owned by the Findel-Mast family. The corporate offices are located in Wolfenbüttel. Jägermeister is the primary product of Mast-Jägermeister SE. They also produce the lesser known SchlehenFeuer, ...

converted Schloss Lütgenhof to a restaurant and hotel with twenty-three rooms in 1999.

Literature

* Manfred Diehl, Dorothea Diehl: ''Naturschutzgebiete an der Ostseeküste Schleswig-Holsteins.'' In: ''Berichte des Vereins „Natur und Heimat“ und des Naturhistorischen Museums zu Lübeck.'' (''Protected Areas of the Baltic Sea Coast of Schleswig-Holstein.'' In: ''Reports of the Association "Nature and Homeland" and the Nature-Historical Museum to Lübeck.'') Heft (Number) 19/20, 1986, {{ISSN, 0067-5806 Lakes of Schleswig-Holstein Bays of Schleswig-Holstein Lübeck Nature reserves in Schleswig-Holstein Federal waterways in Germany BDassowerSee