The Flückigersee (English: Lake Flückiger) is a 10-hectare lake in the Freiburg district of Betzenhausen. It developed from the quarrying of sand and

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

by the Flückiger construction

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

in the 1920s. The mining at the lake was stopped in 1983, because the surrounding area became more and more inhabited. In 1986 the lake became part of the Landesgartenschau

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

(an exhibition in the local area), today's Seepark. In the year 2000 the lake's deepest point was about 25 metres. The water quality is generally good, but tiny parasitic worms called cercaria live in the lake, which can cause cercarial dermatitis. They are commonly known as swimmer's itch after being in water. In 1999, when the city of Freiburg investigated the water quality of municipal lakes that had previously been quarried in, a strong eutrophication was found especially in the Flückigersee. As a result, the ''citizen and student

project A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

Flückiger See'' (German: ''Bürger- und Schülerprojekt Flückiger See'') was founded at the Freiburg Eco-Station for

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

education, in order to preserve the lake.oekostation.de:
Bürgerprojekt Flückiger See
', Retrieved 25 February 2011. In order to combat the overpopulation of up to 40

swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

s, a pair of swans were fed special food as part of the Alphaschwäne (English: Alpha Swan) project. Since 2001, the territorial behaviour of these strengthened swans has kept the lake free from outsider swans. In 2002, a

limnological Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristic ...

office was commissioned to collect the ecological key data on the lake. A local

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

decision led to the results being published. They state that the main reason for the

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

pollution is an increased phosphorus content caused by inflowing groundwater.Gemeinderat Freiburg, 1. Sitzung des Umweltausschusses: ''Verbesserung der Wasserqualität des Flückigersees h i e r : Zwischenbericht zur Limnologie und Altlastenerkundung.'' Vorlage UA-05/002, online verfügbar unter http://www.freiburg.de/ratsinfo The phosphorus probably originates from debris that was dumped into the lake after the

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

attack Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

on Freiburg during the Second World War and the debris contained remains of phosphorus bombs, 255 tonnes of which were used during the attack. The lake used to be further to the East, in the same place where the track used to move debris after the War ended. In 1997 and 2001 the lake was cleared of rubbish and debris by

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

. In the

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

of 2013, a diving school from

Ringsheim Ringsheim ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Ringsä) is a village in the district of Ortenau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most pop ...

and members of the Sea Shepherd initiated a similar clear up. The clearing also attempted to capture some of the 200 or so turtles now living in the lake (mainly red-cheeked and yellow-bellied turtles). However, they only caught two turtles. The turtles are abandoned domestic animals whose high life expectancy and food requirements endanger the ecosystem of the lake.Simone Lutz:
Freiburg: Seeputzete: Taucher fischen nur zwei Schildkröten aus dem Flückigersee
'' In: ''Badische Zeitung.'' 8 September 2013, retrieved 22 September 2013.

References

External links

Der ''Seepark.''
der Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau.
Bürgerprojekt Flückiger See
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flückigersee Geography of Freiburg im Breisgau Parks in Germany Lakes of Baden-Württemberg