🌊 Attersee (lake)

Attersee is a lake in the Upper Austrian part of the Salzkammergut, in the district of Vöcklabruck, and lies at an elevation of 469 metres above the Adriatic (m.a.A.). The outflow from Attersee passes through a weir into the Ager river, which flows via the Traun river into the Danube. This nutrient-poor lake, with its varied shorelines, provides habitats for many animal and plant species and has been designated a Natura 2000 site since 2006. With a water surface area of over 46 square kilometres, it is the largest lake situated entirely within Austria. At 169 m (554 ft), it is the second-deepest lake in Austria after neighbouring Traunsee, and with a water volume of almost 4 billion cubic metres, it is surpassed only by Lake Constance. The Attersee is owned by the Austrian Federal Forests, is a major tourist destination in Upper Austria and a popular swimming lake, as well as a diving and sailing area. On the shores of the Attersee lie the remains of pile-dwelling settlements from the Neolithic, which form part of the UNESCO administered World Heritage Site known as "Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps".