Kulkwitzer See

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Kulkwitzer See
Saxony relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Kulkwitzer See
Location Saxony
Coordinates 51°18′30.95″N12°14′50.1″E / 51.3085972°N 12.247250°E / 51.3085972; 12.247250
Basin  countriesGermany
Surface area1.7 km2 (0.66 sq mi)
Max. depth36 m (118 ft)
Water volume26,800,000 m3 (950,000,000 cu ft)
Shore length18 km (5.0 mi)
Surface elevation114.5 m (376 ft)
Settlements Leipzig (Grünau), Markranstädt
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.
Earth moving at the Kulkwitzer See, May 1973 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-M0521-0021, Leipzig, Rekultivierung.jpg
Earth moving at the Kulkwitzer See, May 1973
So-called Red House RotesHaus-Kulki.jpg
So-called Red House

The Kulkwitzer See (Lake Kulkwitz), colloquially called Kulki, is a lake in the western part of Saxony, Germany. The lake is a part of the Central German Lake District.

Contents

Kulkwitzer See emerged from two former lignite opencast mining areas southwest of Leipzig. Coal was mined here from 1864, first underground and from 1937 in opencast mining. The two remaining opencast mines were flooded from 1963 and opened in 1973 as a local recreation area. [1] [2]

Location

The lake is located east of Markranstädt, north of the former village of Göhrenz, 1999 incorporated as a neighborhood into Markranstädt, south of the former village of Miltitz, 1999 incorporated as a neighborhood into Leipzig, and west of Grünau and Lausen, both parts of Leipzig. It is named after the former village of Kulkwitz, which became a neighborhood of Markranstädt in 1999.

Tourist facilities

There are substantial tourist facilities: several bathing beaches - on the western shore also one suitable for the disabled, a circular hiking trail, a ship restaurant, [3] the restaurant Rotes Haus (in English: Red House, formerly the control center of the opencast mine) and other restaurants and snack bars, a camping site, a sauna, a high ropes course, a sledding hill, diving, sailing, boating and surfing opportunities. In 2018, the cycle path around the lake was handed over.

View from Lausen towards Markranstadt KulkwitzerSeeL-M.JPG
View from Lausen towards Markranstädt

Together with bathers, anglers and surfers, around 500,000 visitors visit Lake Kulkwitz every year.

Operation

From 1993 until 2021, the lake has been operated in the responsibility of the "Zweckverband Kulkwitzer See" association. [4] At last, two cities belonged to this association – Leipzig and Markranstädt. The chairman was the respective mayor of Markranstädt. In 2003, the association outsourced the operation of the lake to an external private business agency - LeipzigSeen GmbH based in Leipzig.

Underwater diving and sports events

Marathon and triathlon events, lake festivals and other sporting events [5] have also been held here since the 1970s.

Due to its underwater flora and fauna and its good depth of visibility, the lake is applied one of the ten best diving waters in Germany and attracts around 35,000 overnight stays from tourists, mainly divers from all over Germany and Europe. There are several underwater hotspots especially for divers. A small chapel, an airplane wreck and a set up scaffolding that were formerly sunk by the Bundeswehr for training purposes. The Kulkwitzer See is home to various types of fish such as perch, pike, catfish, carp, roach, eel, ruff and tench.

Carp over a bed of Characeen Karpfen uber Characeenrasen.jpg
Carp over a bed of Characeen
Perch on sunken scaffolding Barsch an versenktem Baugerust.jpg
Perch on sunken scaffolding

Traffic

The Kulkwitzer See is easily accessible by public transport:

Bundesstraße 87 runs on the north side of the lake. Parking spaces, some of which are subject to a fee, [6] are connected to the Bundesstrasse both on the Markranstadt side and on the Leipzig side.

On the route of the former railway line, which touches the Kulkwitzer See in the southeast, the Elster-Saale cycle path was laid out, which connects the Elster cycle path with the Saale cycle path.

See also

Literature

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References

  1. Kulturbund der DRR (1988), p. 59
  2. Auf der Straße der Braunkohle (2003), pp. 125-127
  3. Kulturbund der DDR, ibid.:"... 1972 wurde "Frieda" .... Translation: ... in 1972, "Frieda", a disused Saale barge, 53 m long and 6 m wide, was transported in three parts on low loaders from Wettin to Miltitz, placed on a prefabricated foundation, welded together again and used as a ship's restaurant " MS Leipzig"".
  4. Klaudia Naceur, Wie weiter mit dem Zweckverband Erholungsgebiet Kulkwitzer See? (What next for the Kulkwitzer See recreational area association?), in: Grün-As, Stadtteilmagazin für Grünau und Umland, issue 44/2022 (in German)
  5. Web page of the Kulkwitzer-See-Run (in German)
  6. Auf der Straße der Braunkohle (2003), p. 125