Königssee · A Lake for Electric Boats Only

The Königssee lies between rock walls; its water comes from glaciers and is said to be clean enough to drink. For more than a hundred years only electric boats and rowing boats have been allowed on it, since the sound of engines would break the quiet.

When the boat reaches the middle of the lake it stops, and a crew member takes out a trumpet and plays a passage towards the cliff, waiting for the echo to come back once, then twice. This is a fixed part of the trip.

On the far shore stand a hunting lodge and a small chapel. Legend says a second church lies drowned at the bottom — because this lake never gives people back.

Natural Mysteries / Bavaria · Germany / Time immemorial