Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, extending southeast of the city of

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and

Seedamm The Rapperswil Seedamm is the artificial causeway at the narrowest area of Lake Zurich between Hurden, Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The structure contains two bridge segments and is approximately long. The Seedamm carries a road () and ...

causeway (between Pfäffikon and

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

). In the latter case, the upstream part of the lake is called '' Obersee'' (), while the lower part is sometimes also referred to as the Lower Lake (), respectively.

Geography

Lake Zurich is a

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...

that was formed by the . Its main

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

is the River

Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Linthal, Glarus, village of Linthal in the mountains of the cantons of Switzerland, canton of canton of Glarus, Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee (Züri ...

, which rises in the

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s of the

Glarus Alps The Glarus Alps () are a mountain range in central Switzerland. They are bordered by the Uri Alps and the Schwyz Alps to the west, the Lepontine Alps to the south, the Appenzell Alps to the northeast. The eastern part of the Glarus Alps contains ...

. The Linth originally flew directly into Lake Zurich, but was later diverted by the Escher canal (completed in 1811) into Lake Walen () from where its waters are now carried to the east end of Lake Zurich (near Schmerikon) by means of the straightened Linth

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

(completed in 1816). Until the early 16th century, there was another lake upstream of ''Obersee'', Lake Tuggen () near Tuggen. The waters of Lake Zurich flow out of the lake at its north-west end (at the level of the Quaibrücke), passing through the city of Zurich; however, the outflow is then called the

Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...

. The Limmat is a tributary of the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

, which itself is a tributary of the

High Rhine High Rhine (, ; kilometres 0 to 167 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Lake Constance () and the city of Basel, flowing in a general east-to-west direction and forming mostly the Germany–Switzerland border. It is the first of fo ...

. The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin is the Tödi at 3,614 metres above sea level. Besides the River Linth, other tributaries are the Jona, Schmerikoner Aa, Steinenbach and Wägitaler Aa, which all flow out into ''Obersee'', along with several creeks. The

, an artificial causeway and bridge, crosses the narrowest point of the lake at the level of the Hurden Peninsula, carrying a railway line and road from

to Pfäffikon. The waterway is also crossed by the ''

Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden is a wooden pedestrian bridge between the city of Rapperswil and the village of Hurden crossing the Obersee (the upper part of Lake Zurich) in Switzerland. On 6 April 2001, the footbridge was opened. With a leng ...

'', a wooden pedestrian bridge. The eastern section of the lake is known as the '' Obersee'' (). West of the Seedamm lie the small islands of Lützelau and Ufenau, where in 1523 Ulrich von Hutten took refuge and died. Other islands include Grosser Hafner, Saffa Island and Schönenwerd (near Richterswil). A popular tourist destination is the Au peninsula at the village of Au between Wädenswil and Horgen. The lake shores are well cultivated and fertile. They include

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

s, such as Frauenwinkel or Bätzimatt. The bay of Rapperswil and reed in Nuolen are wintering areas for birds and popular sites for bird watching. To the east, separated by

Zürichberg The Zürichberg is a wooded hill rising to 679 m (2,228 feet), overlooking Lake Zürich and located immediately to the east of the city of Zürich, Switzerland, between the valleys of the Limmat and the Glatt rivers. Its highest point is about 2 ...

- Adlisberg, Forch, and Pfannenstiel, are two smaller lakes, Greifensee () and Pfäffikersee (). There are several minor lakes and

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s in the vicinity, such as Egelsee, Lützelsee or Türlersee. Zimmerberg, Etzel and Buechberg mountains lie to the west and south of the lake, respectively. Further to the east, the Speer, Chüemettler and Federispitz can be seen from the southern part of the lake. Administratively, Lake Zurich is split between the cantons of

( Horgen District), St. Gallen ( See-Gaster) and

Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...

( Höfe and

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

districts). The lower lake, to the west of the Seedamm, is largely in the canton of Zurich, while the upper lake is shared between the cantons of St. Gallen and Schwyz.

Tributaries of lower lake

The following rivers or streams flow into lower part of Lake Zurich. From the Limmat clockwise, they are: *Hornbach (at

Zürichhorn Zürichhorn is a river delta on Zürichsee's eastern shore in the lower basin of the lake. The area is part of the parks and quays in the Seefeld (Zürich), Seefeld quarter of the city of Zürich in Switzerland. The gardens are one of the most popu ...

) *Düggelbach (at

Zollikon Zollikon is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Meilen District in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland known for being one of Switzerland's most exclusive districts. Besides the main settlement of Zollikon, which lies on the shore of L ...

) *Kusenbach (at Küsnacht) * Küsnachter Dorfbach (at Hornelanpark, Küsnacht) *Heslibach (at Erlenbach) *Dorfbach Erlenbach (at Erlenbach) *Tobelbächli (at Erlenbach) *Schipfbach (at Erlenbach) *Rossbach (at Herrliberg) *Meilener Dorfbach (at

Meilen Meilen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Meilen (district), Meilen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. History Archaeological finds in Meilen date back more than ...

) *Beugenbach (at Meilen) *Aebletenbach (at Ländeli, Meilen) *Uetiker Mulibach (at Meilen) *Feldbach (at Horn) *Sarenbach (at Freienbach) *Krebsbach (at Bäch, Freienbach) *Mülibach (at Richterswil) *Zürichsee (at Wädenswil) *Meilibach (at Wädenswil) *Schanzengraben (Zurich)

Coastal settlements

, at the north-western end of the lake, is the largest city on Lake Zurich. The least populous is Hurden. On the west shore (which gradually becomes the south shore) are Kilchberg,

Rüschlikon Rüschlikon is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Horgen District, Horgen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. It is located on the west shore of Lake Zürich. Coat of ar ...

, Thalwil, Oberrieden, Horgen, Au, Wädenswil and Richterswil in the

canton of Zurich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

, and Freienbach, Pfäffikon, Hurden, Altendorf, Lachen, Nuolen and Tuggen in the

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one ...

. On the opposite shore, which gradually becomes the northern shore towards east, are

, Küsnacht, Erlenbach, Herrliberg, Feldmeilen,

Stäfa Stäfa () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Meilen (district), Meilen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. Geography Stäfa has an area of . Of this area, 46.1% is ...

, and Feldbach in the canton of Zurich, and Rapperswil-Jona. The latter includes the medieval town of

, whose castle is home to the Polish museum, and the coastal villages of Kempraten, Busskirch and Bollingen. The municipalities of Rapperswil-Jona and Schmerikon, which is close to the east end of the lake, are both in the canton of St. Gallen. A little further east is the larger town of

Uznach Uznach is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Uznach is first mentioned in 741 as ''Uzinaa'' in a grant from a noble lady at Benken Abbey to the Abbey of Saint ...

Prehistoric pile dwellings and historic settlements

Nine

Prehistoric pile dwellings around Zürichsee Prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich are Stilt house, pile dwelling sites located around Lake Zurich in the Cantons of Switzerland, cantons of Canton of Schwyz, Schwyz, Canton of St. Gallen, St. Gallen and Canton of Zurich, Zurich. The a ...

, which are located in the

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

, St. Gallen and

, are among the 56 Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps in Switzerland. These nine sites on the Lake Zurich lakeshore are Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn, Freienbach–Hurden Seefeld, Rapperswil-Jona/Hombrechtikon–Feldbach, Rapperswil-Jona–Technikum, Erlenbach–Winkel,

Meilen–Rorenhaab Meilen–Rorenhaab is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which 56 are located in Switzerland. Geography The site is located on Lake Zurich {''Zürichsee'') lakeshore ...

, Wädenswil–Vorder Au, Zurich–Enge Alpenquai, and Kleiner Hafner. Because the lake has grown in size over time, the original piles are now around to under the water level of . Two other sites are not far away: Greifensee–Storen/Wildsberg at the Greifensee and Wetzikon–Robenhausen at the Pfäffikersee. As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, each of these 11 prehistoric pile dwellings is also listed as a ''Class object'' in the

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

. In Kempraten ( Rapperswil-Jona municipality), there was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

named Centum Prata. Another settlement was Turicum in Zurich.

Transportation

The main

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

and

private transport Private transport (as opposed to public transport) is the personal or individual use of transportation which are not available for use by the general public, where in theory the user can decide freely on the time and route of transit ('choice ...

ation nodes around the lake are the city of Zurich and — given the presence of the

causeway — Pfäffikon and

. Besides Quaibrücke in Zurich and the Seedamm, there are no bridges across the lake. In addition, the towns of

and Horgen are connected by a car ferry. The lake lies within the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV) fare zones, but the railway and bus routes around Obersee are partly within the fare zone.

Trams and buses

Bus routes on the western shore are operated by Zimmerberg Bus. On the eastern side, the VZO provides bus services along the lake shore and to the Zürcher Oberland. VZO also operates the urban bus routes in Rapperswil and Jona. At the northern end of the lake, in Zurich,

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

consists of

trams A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

, trolleybuses and motor buses of VBZ.

Rail

Left bank: The towns on the western and southern shores of Lake Zurich are linked by the Lake Zurich left bank railway line, which connects with . This line is served by the , , and of the

Zurich S-Bahn The Zurich S-Bahn () system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Glarus, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, ...

and

InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...

(IR) trains. It is also used by

EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

(EC),

Intercity Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this category) is a high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands as part of cross-border services. It ...

(ICE),

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

(IC) and Railjet (RJX) trains but they do not call at stations along the lake. At , the line connects to the Wädenswil–Einsiedeln railway to

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and Districts of Switzerland#Schwyz, district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. Histor ...

, served by the . Right bank: Towns on the eastern shore of the lower lake (also known as the Goldcoast, or ) are connected by the Lake Zurich right bank railway line between Zürich HB and . This line is served by

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

services , , and of Zurich S-Bahn. The Rapperswil–Ziegelbrücke railway line along the northern shore of Obersee is served by St. Gallen S-Bahn services , and , and the '' Voralpen Express''. This line connects Rapperswil with on the eastern end of the lake via . is a ghost station since 2004. Seedamm: The Rapperswil–Pfäffikon railway line across the Seedamm and Hurden Peninsula is served by Zurich S-Bahn services and and the ''Voralpen Express''. This short line connects Rapperswil with via .

Shipping

The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft – – provides with its 17-passenger ships touristic services on Lake Zurich. There are a number of passenger

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

services, notably the Horgen–Meilen ferry, an auto ferry between Horgen and

Road

The A3 motorway and follow the western and southern shores of Lake Zurich. The crosses the Seedamm, and the runs along the eastern lake shore. The Lakes Route, one of the national bike routes, runs accross the Seedamm and then follows the northern shore of Obersee. There are other bike routes along the eastern and western lake shores.

Freeze over

The freezing of Lake Zurich, called ''Seegfrörni'' in

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

, is a rare and spectacular event. The lake was frozen in the following

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian and Julian calendar, Julian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "o ...

years (1963 was the last time). Years 1223 to 1963 are based on (see list at the end of the article) and, for 1435 see. * 1223, 1259, 1262 * 1407, 1435, 1491 * 1514, 1517, 1573 * 1600, 1660, 1684, 1695 * 1709, 1716, 1718, 1740, 1755, 1763, 1789 * 1830, 1880, 1891, 1895 * 1929, 1963

Water quality

Lake Zurich's water is very clean and reaches, during summer, temperatures well beyond . Swimming in the

public bath Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

s and beaches is very popular. The lake's water is purified and fed into Zurich's water system; it is potable. PanoZueri

Gallery

File:Uetliberg LCD.jpg, View from the top of the observation tower at Uetliberg. File:Felsenegg - view from the top.jpg, View from Felsenegg to the eastern part of Lake Zurich File:Zürichsee.jpg, Ufenau island File:Halbinsel Au Nordseite.jpg, Au peninsula File:SeedammBachtel.JPG,

between

and Hurden, view from Bachtel hill File:Rapperswil - Schlosshügel mit Sicht auf Ufenau.JPG, Lützelau and

, view from Ufenau island File:DS Stadt Zürich & Rapperswil - Rapperswil 1914.IMG 2362.jpg, Paddle steamships '' Stadt Rapperswil'' (to the left) and '' Stadt Zürich'' (1914) at Rapperswil (SG) harbour File:Zurisee Airplane.jpg, Zurisee from an airplane File:Insel Schoenenwerd 2014-05-21 11-11-32.jpg, Schönenwerd island near Richterswil File:Seeuferweg-Steg (Süd) am Zürichsee, Richterswil ZH 20220328-jag9889.jpg, Bank path and pedestrian bridge near Richterswil File:Holzbrücke - Obersee - Seedamm 2011-11-30 15-20-11 (SX230).JPG, Wooden pedestrian bridge near Rapperswil File:Federispitz - Chüemettler - Speer - Wurmsbach - Obersee - Jona (SG) Stampf 2010-11-08 16-26-54.jpg, Small islands near Jona delta

References

External links

*
Zürichsee Schifffahrtsgesellschaft
��Boat schedules, mainly non-English.
Zürichsee-Fähre Horgen-Meilen
��Ferry schedules, in German.

at

Lake Zurich ENC Chart
{{Authority control

LZurich Schwyz–St. Gallen border