Lake Walen, also known as Lake Walenstadt or (), is one of the larger lakes in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Located in the east of the country, about two thirds of its area are in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of St. Gallen and about one third in the canton of Glarus. Its name means 'Lake of the Walhaz' (german: See der Welschen), since in the early Middle Ages Lake Walen formed the linguistic border between the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

, who settled in the west, and the Romansh people, the Walhaz (), in the east.

Geography

The lake lies in a valley between the Appenzell Alps to the north and the Glarus Alps to the south. It has a long east-west extension but is relatively narrow in north-south direction, with a surface area of . It has a maximum depth of . The three main tributaries of the lake are the Seez, Murgbach and Linth. The latter continues its course from Walensee to Obersee ( Lake Zurich) through the Linth canal. Until the regulation of the Linth during the early 19th century, the Linth bypassed Walensee west of it and the lake's outflow was a river called the Maag, which merged with the Linth near Ziegelbrücke. The Seerenbach Falls and Rinquelle are adjacent to the north of the lake. The

Schnittlauchinsel The Schnittlauchinsel (German, lit. "chives island") is an island in the Walensee, located in the canton of Canton of St. Gallen. It is the only island in the lake and among the largest in the canton of St. Gallen. The island has a length of 80 met ...

, near the eastern end of the lake, is the only island in the Walensee. The Churfirsten range raises steeply on the north side from the lake's level at to above sea level, joining the Mattstock () and

Federispitz The Federispitz (1,865 m) is a mountain of the Appenzell Alps, overlooking the Walensee in the canton of St. Gallen. It lies south of the Speer above the municipality of Schänis Schänis is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) ...

() to the west. The Paxmal near Walenstadt overlooks the lake. On the south, the lake is overlooked by the Mürtschenstock Massif, whose peak is above sea level, and the resort area Flumserberg. The highest point of the lake's drainage basin is the Tödi ().

Settlements and transportation

Apart from Walenstadt at the eastern end of the lake, other lakeside towns and villages are Weesen at the western end of the lake and Mühlehorn and Mols, Murg and Unterterzen south of the lake. Quinten, located on the northern shore of the lake, can only be reached on foot from Weesen or Walenstadt via a hiking trail or by boat (e.g. via a ferry from Murg) as there are no roads. Commercial passenger boats are operated by Walensee-Schifffahrt. To the south, the lake is followed by the

A3 motorway This is a list of roads designated A3. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * A003 road (Argentina), a road connecting the junction with National Route 9 and Camino de Cintura to Tigre * ''A3 road (Australia)'' may refer ...

and the

Ziegelbrücke–Sargans railway line The Ziegelbrücke–Sargans railway line is a railway line operated by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Route It runs from Ziegelbrücke railway station as an extension of the Lake Zürich left-bank railway. It is an important rail link in the ...

. There is also a continuous bike route along the southern shore. Unterterzen railway station is connected via a gondola lift with Oberterzen and the resort area Flumserberg.

Arts

The lake provided the inspiration for a solo piano piece by Hungarian Romantic composer

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, Au lac de Wallenstadt. The piece is part of a collection of solo piano works inspired by his travels to

in the 1830s.

Gallery

Walensee Unterterzen-2.jpg, Walensee and Unterterzen, Quarten Walensee, Switzerland.JPG, Looking to the west towards Amden Amden Weesen Linthebene3.jpg, Escher canal (left), diverting the river Linth into Lake Walen, and the Linth canal (right), the present-day outflow of the lake Weesen 2011-07-31n.jpg, Commercial passenger boat Thumb IMG 0392 1024 Jet d'eau du lac de Walenstadt à Weesen.jpg, Weesen harbour Schnittlauchinsel Walenstadt.jpg,

References

External links