Chiemsee (ˈkiːmzeː) is a freshwater lake in Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, between Rosenheim

Rosenheim

Rosenheim is a town in Bavaria at the confluence of the rivers Inn and Mangfall. It is seat of administration of the district of Rosenheim, but is not a part of it.-Geography:...

, Germany, and Salzburg

Salzburg

-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. It is often called the Bavarian Sea. The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien

Prien am Chiemsee

Prien am Chiemsee is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim, in Bavaria, Germany.-Geography:It is situated on the western shore of the Chiemsee lake, 16 km east of Rosenheim.-Famous resident:...

 flow into the lake; the river Alz

Alz

The Alz is a river in Bavaria, southern Germany, the only discharge of the Chiemsee. Its origin is on the northern shore near Seebruck. It is a right tributary of the Inn, into which it flows in Marktl...

, out of it. The Chiemsee is divided into the bigger, north section, in the northeast, called Weitsee, and the Inselsee, in the southwest.

The region around the Chiemsee is Chiemgau

Chiemgau

Chiemgau is the common name of a geographic area in Upper Bavaria. It refers to the foothills of the Alps between the rivers Inn and Traun, with lake Chiemsee at its center. The political districts that contain the Chiemgau are Rosenheim and Traunstein...

 and is a famous recreation area.

Islands

Two of the main islands on the lake are Herrenchiemsee (biggest island) and Frauenchiemsee

Frauenchiemsee

The island Frauenchiemsee is the second largest of the three islands in Chiemsee, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Chiemsee in Upper Bavarian district of Rosenheim, which is the smallest municipality in all of Bavaria. The large and car free Fraueninsel houses 300 permanent residents as...

, also called Herreninsel (gentleman's island) and Fraueninsel (lady's island), respectively. The third main island, Krautinsel (herb island), is smaller than Frauenchiemsee and is uninhabited.

• Herrenchiemsee has a palace built by King Ludwig II in 1878, also called Herrenchiemsee
  Herrenchiemsee
  Herrenchiemsee is a complex of royal buildings on the Herreninsel, an island in the Chiemsee, Bavaria's largest lake, 60 km south east of Munich. Together with the neighbouring island of Frauenchiemsee and the uninhabited Krautinsel it forms the municipality of Chiemsee...
  
  , which was never completed but was meant to be a replica of the Palace of Versailles
  Palace of Versailles
  The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
  
  , in France
  France
  The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
  
  . Many of the rooms of the castle are open to tourists; tours of the castle and its extensive grounds on the island are conducted throughout the summer.

• Frauenchiemsee is the smaller of the two major islands on the Chiemsee, and houses a Benedictine
  Benedictine
  Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
  
   nunnery, built in 782, as well as a small village. The nuns make a liquor called Klosterlikör (cloister liquor) and a very good marzipan
  Marzipan
  Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
  
   (almond paste).

There are also three very small islands: the Schalch, to the west of Frauenchiemsee; and two unnamed islands, 54 and 80 meters south of the Krautinsel, with an area of 30 m² each.

External links

• Travel guide of Chiemsee on Wikivoyage
  Wikivoyage
  Wikivoyage is a free web-based travel guide for both travel destinations and travel topics written by volunteer authors. The name is a blend of the words “Wiki” and “Voyage”, the French word for travel, journey, voyage, or trip.The project has been founded in September 2006 by a German...
  
  
• Ferienhaus am Chiemsee