The Leopoldsteinersee is a mountain lake in

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

, in the east of Austria, about northwest of the city of

Eisenerz Eisenerz (; "Iron ore") is a market place and old mining town in the Austrian state of Styria, . N.W. of Graz by rail. Pop. (2001) 6,400. It is situated in the deep Erzbach Valley, dominated on the east by the Pfaffenstein , on the west by the ...

. The lake is named after the nearby Leopoldstein Castle.

Description

The Leopoldsteinersee is situated at above sea level at the foot of the Seemauer in the western

Hochschwab The Hochschwab in the Upper Styria Upper Styria (german: Obersteiermark), in the Austrian usage of the term, refers exclusively to the northwestern, generally mountainous and well-wooded half of the federal state of Styria. The southwestern half ...

range. The lake is long and wide. The maximum depth is . The river Seebach feeds the lake, but it is mainly fed by underground springs. The lake is surrounded by rugged mountains with mixed or coniferous forests. A hiking trail circles the lake. There is a local outfit that rents electric or rowing boats.

Legend

The people near the lake have a legend that a

merman Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other ...

was caught in the lake. To buy his freedom he showed his captors the iron deposits at

Erzberg , photo=HochtorOedsteinGroup FromS HoherZinken.jpg , photo_caption=Hochtor - Ödstein Group (Gesäuse) (from right to left) as seen from Hoher Zinken in the south , country= Austria , subdivision1_type=States , subdivision1= , parent= Northe ...

. Then he disappeared into the .

Gallery

Eisenerz - Leopoldsteinersee.JPG, View of Leopoldsteiner See 067 Fischer am Leopoldsteinersee - Aquarell von Matthäus Loder, 1822.jpg, ''Fishermen on the lake in 1822''. Watercolor by Leopoldsteinersee.jpg, Looking towards the northwest Polyommatus coridon03.jpg, ''

Lysandra coridon The chalkhill blue (''Lysandra coridon'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm, where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, wh ...

'' photographed near the lake

References

Citations Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leopoldsteinersee Lakes of Styria Mountain lakes LLeopoldsteinersee